


The Mountain on the Hilltop

by l0w3l



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempted Sexual Assault, Child Abuse, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Language, High School, Hurt/Comfort, Whump, ed and al being cute brothers, their step dad sucks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:54:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29496126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/l0w3l/pseuds/l0w3l
Summary: Summary: Edward and Al are high school students. It’s Al’s first year and Ed has to protect him from the harsh realities of life by keeping the bullying a secret. At the same time, his step-father’s abuse is becoming harder and harder to hide. EdxWinry.
Relationships: Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell
Comments: 7
Kudos: 21





	The Mountain on the Hilltop

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I was heavily inspired by this story: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7278328/1/Broken-Mind  
> If you like my story, please read that one, it’s fantastic.

“Brother!” Al pounded up to him, a grin plastered on his soft features. It almost made Ed smile, but instead he hardened his expression and turned back to his locker. “Do you want to eat lunch together?” Al asked.  
It was Al’s first day as a freshman. He had always been a bright kid with a positive attitude. Even just looking at him, the way his smile shone and warmth radiated from him, you could tell he was a good kid. A hopeful kid.   
Of course, it helped that he didn’t experience the things Ed did. Maybe if the things that happened to Ed had not, he would be like Al too. He paused, considering this. No, Al was special. He could only wish to be like his little brother. It was this exact reason that he had to protect him.   
“I don’t think so,” Ed replied shortly. Al deflated, the shine drained from his face.  
“What do you mean?” his soft voice struck Ed straight through the heart.   
Edward shuffled with the papers in his locker, no longer paying attention to what he was doing, but unable to look at Al’s crestfallen expression. “I mean no, Al,” his voice was harsher this time.  
“Why?”   
“You should make some friends your own age,” Ed said lamely.   
“I have friends my own age,” Al pointed out. Of course he did - it was basically impossible not to like the kid, “What’s the real reason?”  
Ed couldn’t tell his brothers about the bullies. He knew exactly he would do: insist that he didn’t give a damn about them and sit with Ed anyways, which would result in him being targeted just the same as Ed was. Then he’d want to tell a teacher too, which would only result in an awkward conversation between the principal and Mark, his step-dad, leading to a severe retaliatory beating from the bullies.   
“Can’t you just let me be alone?” Ed asked with a harsh edge to his voice. It didn’t scare Al.  
“I’m not leaving until you tell me why,” he said.   
Edward stepped back and slammed his locker shut, “Maybe I just don’t want to hang out with my little brother all day,” he snapped, grabbing his backpack and throwing it over his shoulder. He immediately regretted it when he saw the hurt written across Al’s face.   
“You don’t mean that.”  
Ed ran a hand through his silky, golden hair, “Just get lost, Al,” he shoved past the boy.   
The guilt held tight like a vice, wrapped around his chest and squeezing sharply. His stomach was heavy with the weight of the interaction. He hated it, hated treating his brother like he didn’t want him to be around, hated the fact that he was the one bringing him down. But it was what he had to do. There was no way he would be the reason Al ended up in the same situation as him. Al was a tough kid, maybe physically stronger than Ed even, but emotionally, the toll would be unbearable. Edward would never forgive himself if he was the reason his little brother was tortured by bullies. So he accepted the weight and trudged to the side of the school building.   
Most of the kids gathered at the tables. Others sat around the quad in groups and chatted mindlessly. Ed didn’t look to see where Al had gone, only walked to the side of the building and slumped against the wall. He preferred to be alone. No one really got him and he didn’t really get anyone else either. The whole place felt alien and the kids were another species. He pulled a sandwich out of his bag and took a large bite, hungrily gulping down the dry bread and thin bologna. 

Although he would never admit it, Ed’s short stature only exacerbated the bullying. The predators saw him as vulnerable and it made him a desirable target. Ed wasn’t weak. In fact, he was quite agile and knew how to land a punch, but even he couldn’t fight off a group of looming twelfth-graders.   
They towered over him, wide grins flashing bloodthirsty teeth. Ed’s heart sped up in his chest, but his expression only became more firm. “Fuck off,” he growled.  
“Wow, someone’s feeling feisty,” the guttural voice of the boy named Chris sounded off. The group laughs, but it is harsh and derisive, not like the genuine light-hearted noise of Al giggling.  
In front of him were the three reasons that he had to push Al away at school, and even thinking about the hurt look of rejection on his brother’s face when he advised him to get lost caused a fire to ignite inside his chest.   
His fists tightened at his sides. “Just get the hell out of my way.”  
The group didn’t take the direction. Those eerie smiles only grew. “I don’t think so, Eddie,” Chris took a giant paw and shoved Ed stumbling backwards. Ed knew he shouldn’t take the bait, that the situation could only end poorly, but the flames were fanned and now there was no stopping.   
Ed flung himself forward, uppercutting Chris’s chin so that his head flew back. Everything happened in a flash after that. The pair of cronies, Sam and Jamie, reacted. One grabbed his shirt, the other landed a punch. Ed tried to evade the fist, but the grip on his shirt held him in place. The hand impacted his right eye and a burst of pain flowered. Edwart grunted, grabbing the hand on his shirt and twisting it until it was turning in the wrong direction and the boy released with a hiss. Chris had recovered and was out for revenge. Before Ed could move, Chris had gripped his hands around his throat. Edward kneed him in the crotch and the hands were released.   
“Fuck!” Chris cursed, crumpling into himself. One of the cronies landed a punch directly in Ed’s stomach before he could regroup. He released a gasp as the air drained from his lungs. His mouth opened and closed in a desperate attempt for oxygen, but none came. The pair of cronies took this as an opportunity to get the upper hand, and Edward knew it was all over. One punched him directly on his nose, causing it to burst a river of blood. He tried to move a hand to cover it, but another punch connected with his left eye. Then another in his stomach had him sprawling on the ground. Next came the kicks, over and over to his ribcage, his stomach, his chest. They rained down with not even a pause for Edward to gather his thoughts. He felt his ribs crack in his chest. He felt like his insides were bleeding. Black spotted his vision, and then stars like white fireworks exploded in front of the darkness. The last thought he could remember thinking was, “I’m going to die.”

It was dark when he woke. The first thing he felt was the pain, all over his body, pulsing in unignorable agony. He gasped out and winced as the sharp breath attacked his chest, sides, and stomach. It took several seconds for him to remember what happened. He was alive, the attack was over. He took a hand and carefully placed it on the pavement, surgically ungluing himself from the sidewalk. The second he put weight on it, he cried out and fell back down. He would have to accept that this was going to be a painful experience. He took a steadying breath, and attempted again. When the pain flourished through his entire body, he ground his teeth and persisted through it. He managed to sit up right, but he knew that this was the easy part. There was nothing to hold onto to pull himself up, so he crouched on all fours, before rising slowly to a standing position.   
It was a long walk staggering home, each step its own journey. The twenty minute walk took almost two hours. The only distraction from the pain was the dread sitting heavy in his stomach and mind. It didn’t matter that they didn’t kill him - Mark most certainly would. If he was even ten minutes late, Mark ripped into him. He didn’t want to think about hours late.   
Mark was his step-father, although Ed refused to call him that. After his real father had left them, Mom had remarried. She was alone and scared and he had been there. They had only been married a year when Trisha passed, leaving the brothers alone with Mark. Mom had been desperate for someone to save them after Van was gone and Ed didn’t blame her for that. He didn’t blame her for not knowing what he did to Ed in secret or that she couldn’t protect him. He still loved his mom, even though she was six feet under the ground and had left him in the care of a psychopath. He had long since decided it was best not to dwell on these things.  
When he reached the front door, he paused to take a deep breath. It was possible Mark was asleep and he could sneak through the house into the safety of his room. With a turn of the doorknob and the creak of the door, his hopes were dashed.   
His step-father was positioned in a chair a few feet from the entrance, clearly waiting for Ed to arrive. He sat cross-legged with a deadly look on his face. Ed gulped.   
Mark was in front of him in the next second, causing Edward to take a cautious step backwards. Mark stopped him by fisting the front of his shirt and pulling him forwards. “Where the hell have you been?” he growled.   
Ed looked up at the tall figure and did his best to hide the fear and pain from infiltrating his face. “I didn’t mean to,” he had the entire walk home to think of an excuse, what had he been thinking? He could kick himself. Mark squinted at Ed.   
“What happened to your face?” there was no sympathy in his voice.  
Edward took a forceful step backwards when the grip loosened. “Just some guys were giving me shit.”  
“What did I tell you about picking fights?” his voice was cold.  
“It wasn’t my fault, they ambushed me.”  
Mark made a disbelieving sound. “Pathetic. You just let them beat you.”  
“I didn’t let them,” Ed protested, “I fought back.”  
Mark wasn’t listening anymore. “You have to be punished.”  
“I didn’t do anything!”  
“Pants,” Mark ordered. It was all he had to say.  
Edward sighed, resigned. Mark removed his belt and sat back down in the chair. Edward lowered his jeans and leaned over his step-father’s legs as he had done so many times before. The position dug into the bruises on his stomach, but he bit his lip in determination to not reveal any of his pain.  
“You know what happens if you wake your brother,” Mark’s voice was low and threatening. Ed knew. How could he forget? If Al found out, he would never be safe again. Mark promised he would match every mark on Ed’s body to Al’s. But they both knew Al couldn’t handle it, he’d have to tell someone, he could never keep the secret. Ed would do anything to protect his brother, and if that meant taking the beatings without so much as a cry, he would do it.   
The first slap rang out through the room. Edward couldn’t stop himself from gasping out in pain, but then shut his mouth once again and dug his teeth harder into his lip. The second made his eyes water, and the third caused his vision to spot. He usually handled the beatings for much longer, but after his experience today, his pain tolerance was much lower.   
Mark must have noticed Edward go limp because he tossed him onto the floor in front of him. “Get out of my sight.”  
Ed clambered upstairs and passed out as he hit the mattress. 

Afternoon light touched Ed’s eyelids, gently pulling him to consciousness. He blinked away the drowsiness, adjusting to cognition. His entire body ached. He turned to look at the clock on his bedside table. It was 12:30. Great, he was late on his second day of the year. Mark left for work in the morning and normally Al would walk with him, but after yesterday he probably didn’t want to and had left without him. Ed sat up delicately and ran a hand down his face. He didn’t bother hurrying, he was already more than four hours late and there was no fixing that. He did his best to dress while causing the least amount of pain to his body, but it was a taxing process. When he finished, he made his way to the bathroom and took a long look in the mirror. The figure staring back at him was haunting. Both eyes were forming bruises, the left eye was closing up, round and protruding and purple. The other was puffy and dark, but easier to see out of. There was dried blood crusted all around his face, especially beneath his nose and on his chin. There was a cut on his lip and a gash from where he had bitten down. His hair was matted and filthy, but he didn’t care about showering right now. He did his best to untangle his blonde locks and wash the blood off his face.  
As he began to walk down the hall, towards the stairs, he stopped to look for his bag. It was nowhere to be seen and Ed remembered that it was gone when he woke up from his pavement-nap yesterday. Today already sucked, Ed sighed.   
By the time he made it to school it was lunchtime. The quad buzzed with the pent-up energy of three hundred high-schoolers. Ed made his way to the locker, feeling like he weighed fifty more pounds than usual. Every movement hurt his body and as he opened his locker, he allowed himself a self-pitying groan.   
He gathered his books from his locker and began towards the back of the building when he saw Al. Al shot him a sour face, pouting his lips and narrowing his eyes in a way that made him look like a small child throwing a tantrum, but his expression changed as he registered Ed’s face. Ed grimaced, knowing that he looked like a corpse. Al rushed up to him.  
“Brother, what happened?” he cried, his face brimming with concern.  
Ed shook his head and said nothing, but it was not enough to satisfy Al.   
“Tell me what happened!” he pressed.  
Ed sighed, “Nothing. I just got into a scrap, that’s all.”  
“You look like you should go to the hospital.”  
“Nah, I don’t need a hospital. I’m fine. Don’t worry,” a hospital, Ed could have laughed. That would be the day. If he went to the hospital, his dad would rip him to shreds. They couldn’t afford it, besides the fact that those secret bruises and gashes would be revealed and their secret would be out.   
“I am worried,” Al told him, with a tone that implied it was a stupid thing to say, “Can you at least go to the nurse?”   
Ed frowned and said nothing.   
Al sighed in frustration. “Where is your backpack?”  
“I lost it,” Ed didn’t offer up a further explanation.   
“Did you just get to school?”  
Ed shrugged, “I slept in late.”  
“Dad’s gonna kill you,” Ed actually cracked a smile. Al didn’t know the half of it, “What are you smiling about?” Al demanded.  
“Nothing,” Ed answered. The bell rang and Ed was saved from having to deflect any more questions, “See you later,” he brushed by a stunned Al.  
The next class he had after lunch was geometry. He didn’t mind math, and he especially didn’t mind this class because of the pretty girl that sat in front of him. He knew he’d never speak to her, but it wasn’t so bad to be able to silently admire her.   
“Pass your homework to the person sitting in front of you,” the teacher commanded. She was a woman with kind eyes and short black hair named Professor Ross. Ed wouldn’t have remembered her name if it wasn’t written on the chalkboard behind her. Ed groaned inwardly. It’s the second day of school and they had homework? The teacher glanced at him when she noticed him not shuffling for his papers and he began to focus on the grain of wood on his desk to avoid her gaze.   
The girl in front of him turned and shot him a brief, questioning glance. Ed felt his face warm, but didn’t look up.   
Class passed slowly with Ed trying his best to ignore the pain emanating from his entire body. When the bell rang, Ross called, “Mr. Elric, if you could hang back for a second, please.”  
Ed cursed. The girl in front of him turned to look at him again. “Are you alright?”   
Ed goggled at her, saying nothing. Her cheeks turned pink and she stood up and hurried away.   
Ed watched her leave then stood and meandered to the front of class, stopping beside Ross’s desk.  
“Mr. Elric-”  
“Ed,” he interrupted, wanting to prevent the formality from happening again.  
Ross considered him. “Ed,” she began, “You don’t have your backpack.”  
He shrugged. “I forgot it,” he ran a hand unconsciously across his face, feeling the puffiness of his left eye.   
“And your homework?”  
He nodded.  
“What happened, Ed?” she asked seriously.  
He didn’t need to ask what she was referring to. He knew that he looked like hell, but he answered anyway, “I forgot it at home.”  
“How did you get injured?”   
He knew what she was looking for - to tell her that he was being abused by a parent, but he wasn’t going to bite. He shrugged, “It’s nothing, I just got in an argument.”   
She regarded him for a moment, clearly deciding whether to press or not, but relaxed her shoulders and relented. “I want you to see the nurse. Take this note,” she moved towards her desk, grabbing a piece of paper and scribbling something on it before passing it to him.   
“But-”   
She gave him a stern look and he sighed, surrendering. He walked to the nurse’s office as the next bell rang to signal the beginning of fifth period. When he arrived, the nurse was sitting behind a table and two kids were laying in cots. She didn’t glance up until he staggered towards her and cleared his throat.  
Her head shot up, but there was no recognition or shock in her eyes when her gaze settled on the bruises. “Professor Ross gave me this,” he passed her the note. She perused it for a moment and nodded.  
“Sit down over there,” she instructed. Edward obeyed, releasing a deep exhale when he seated himself. She moved around and returned with a handful of pills and a paper cup of water. “For the pain,” she explained. She left again and came back with a bottle of a mysterious liquid and some pads. She opened the bottle and poured some onto the pad. The smell of alcohol permeated the room and he grimaced as she raised the sheet to his face. It burned as she rubbed it over the cuts, but he stiffened and looked hard into the corner.   
When she finished, Ed stood. “Thanks,” he said, not pausing to let her protest his departure and headed to his next class.

Ed fiddled with the lock on his locker when Al appeared beside him. He glowered with frustration. Al was almost insisting on being associated with him and getting the shit beaten out of him. He had no idea what he was getting into and it was like he refused to protect himself.   
“Are you ready to go home?”  
“I’ve gotta go talk to one of my teachers, just head out without me,” he lied. Al looked disappointed and it caused his heart to ache.   
“Okay,” he said with trepidation.   
Ed watched as Al walked away, casting one final glance over his shoulder to check on his big brother. Ed sighed and tossed his books in the locker, then walked down the hall and threw himself on a bench. If he waited, maybe there was a chance he could avoid Chris and his followers. Of course, Mark would greet him with punishment for the tardiness, but at least Al would be home so the beating couldn’t get out of hand.   
After thirty minutes passed, Ed decided to make his way home. There were no seniors to pick on him and he was grateful for the peace.   
When he arrived, he could hear his step-dad in the kitchen. He tried his best to tip toe up the stairs, but the creak of the first step was like a scream, and Mark was there in an instant.  
“Why are you late?”   
Ed exhaled deeply. “I had to talk to a teacher.”  
“What are you in trouble for now?”   
“Nothing! They just wanted to talk,” he could feel his step-father’s eyes boring holes into him.   
“Talk about what?” he asked, eyeballing Ed’s bruises.  
“Not about you beating me, if that’s what you’re worried about,” he snarked.   
Mark raised his hand and slapped it across Edward’s cheek, shooting a white hot pain across his face. Warm blood trickled from the re-opened cut. “Ah,” Edward gasped, grabbing his face.  
“Don’t talk to me like that. I’m your father. You will show me some respect.”  
“You’re not my dad,” Ed said automatically. Mark’s eyes were full of hatred and fury. Before he could make a move, Ed said, “Please, not in the face. I can’t hide it from Al.”  
Mark took this as an invitation to sucker punch him in the gut. Ed fell backwards onto the stair behind him then slid down to the bottom. He wrapped his arms around his stomach, fighting back the stinging in his eyes. Ed never cried, but he couldn’t help the physical reaction to pain sometimes. Still, he refused to let his step-father see and construe it as weakness.   
Mark turned away and left for the kitchen, having lost interest in the situation. He sat there until he gained his breath and then scampered up to his room, doing his best to shut the door as silently as possible. He ran his sleeve across his lip, smearing the blood and fell onto his bed, throwing an arm over his face.   
There was a hesitant knock at the door. “Brother?”  
“Yeah,” Ed answered.  
The door squeaked open and the angelic face of his little brother peered through. When Ed gave no reaction, he sauntered in. “Are you mad at me?”  
Ed startled, sitting up. He sounded so vulnerable, and it was all because of how Ed had treated him. “Of course not.”  
Al tugged on his own sleeve, moving to sit beside Ed on the bed. “Why are you embarrassed to be seen with me at school?”  
If Ed’s heart hurt before, it shattered now. “I’m not,” he said quickly.  
Al met Ed’s eyes shyly. “Then why don’t you want to hangout with me?”  
“I just want to be alone at school. It has nothing to do with you. Really,” he met Al’s gaze with a firm expression to emphasize the point.   
“You’re bleeding again!” Al said, seeing the busted lip.  
Ed raised his hand to cover the spot. “It’s okay. It’s not as bad as it looks,” actually, it was much worse, but Al could never know. It would only hurt him to have that knowledge and not be able to do anything about it.  
Al appeared unconvinced. “Please don’t get in any more fights.”  
Ed sighed. “It’s not like I mean to.”  
“Promise me,” said Al.  
“Fine, I promise,” Ed smiled faintly. He was lucky to have someone who cared so much, even if it could get on his nerves at times. “Shouldn’t you be doing homework or something?” he mocked annoyed, but Al knew he was only playing.  
“Shouldn’t you?” he countered.  
“It’s too early to be assigning homework. It’s their own fault if I don’t do it,” Al giggled and Ed smiled sincerely for the first time in days.   
Al stood to leave, walked to the door, and paused to turn back to Ed. “I’m going over to Ricky’s tomorrow. Do you want to come?”  
It was a decent invitation, thoughtful as ever. Most kids didn’t want to let their brothers tag along when they went places, especially with their friends. But Al had no idea that it would crush Ed. Mark would never allow Ed to go anywhere or spend time with anyone. He went to school and home and that was it. Mark said he didn’t trust him not to cause problems, probably meaning that he was worried every second Ed was out of his sight that he was going to blab about what he came home to.   
It had happened one time, years ago. It had only been going on a few months at the time. Mom was still alive, but she didn’t know. Mark told him that the only thing stopping him from doing the same to Mom was his taking it out on Ed. Even then, at ten years old, he would have done anything, taken any punishment, to protect his family.  
It was at school when a teacher questioned him and he broke. The night before, Mark had broken his nose and berated him and he had reached the end of his rope. He told her what happened, all of it, right from the beginning. Then she turned around and talked to Mark, without contacting the authorities or telling anyone else.   
Mark punished him like he had never before. He was out of school for an entire week, insisting to his mom and brother that it was just a sickness. Mark firmly told them he would be the only one in or out of Ed’s room, forbidding either from entering on the basis that he didn’t want them to contract the illness. Ed ate next to nothing that week. He was in so much pain he thought he might die, but he had learned his lesson to never speak a word again.   
Ed held back a grimace. “That’s okay, Al. Thanks though.”  
Al nodded and disappeared behind the closed door. 

Ed had no excuse to avoid walking to school with Al the next day. He racked his brain, but came up empty, so he decided the best option was to leave early enough that they would arrive before Chris did.  
“Come on, Al,” he said with frustration.  
“Give me a minute! Why do you want to leave so early anyways. It’s not like you.”  
“I’ve gotta talk to my teacher. Do you want me to leave without you?”  
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Al threw his backpack over his shoulder and gave Ed a quizzical look, “Where’s your bag?”  
Ed didn’t answer at first, but Al only narrowed his eyes with determination. “I lost it.”  
“You lost it?” Al sounded shocked.   
Ed snickered at the melodramatic reaction. “It’s not the end of the world.”   
“I can’t believe you lost it on the second day of school.”  
“Actually it was the first.”  
“Brother!” Al said with exasperation.   
“Can we go now?”  
The walk was excruciating. Ed had to do his best to keep up with Al with his injured body. Every step was agonizing, but he thinned his lips and tried to pretend it away. It doesn’t hurt that bad, he told himself. It was all in his head, he could think it away if he just tried hard enough. Al chittered contentedly about his classes as they made their way to the school. Ed was barely listening, just nodded along and added a “mhm” here and there, but Al didn’t seem to mind.  
When they arrived, Ed was quick to part ways. “I’ll see you later,” he bid goodbye.  
“Bye!” Al replied as he watched Ed disappear down the hallway.   
He decided to head to his first class, hoping the teacher was already there. He pulled open the heavy, metal door and was grateful when it gave way.  
In front of her desk sat the teacher, Dr. Armstrong. She was a severe woman with long blonde hair and a permanent frown. She cast him a look when he entered, but said nothing more and continued working.   
Ed walked to his seat and toppled into it. He stared blankly ahead and decided to zone out until class started.   
“Where were you yesterday?” the voice interrupted his disassociation. He looked up with surprise.  
“I was sick,” he replied automatically.   
She glared at him. “Give your father this,” she indicated to the paper on her desk, making no move to stand. Ed relented and walked to the desk. She offered him the paper and he snatched it, returning the glare. He looked at it and saw that it was a paper announcing his absence and requesting a signature from his parental figure. His glower increased. “Thanks,” he said bitterly.  
She ignored it and returned her attention to the work in front of her, apparently unconcerned with the bruises on his face. He stormed back to his desk and smoldered through class, fixating on how Mark would react when he got home. His first instinct was to fake the signature, but Dr. Armstrong didn’t seem like the gullible type, and he didn’t want to suffer the consequences of being late and forging Mark’s signature.  
When the bell rang, he stormed out to retrieve a textbook from his locker. “Look who’s alive,” a boy’s voice sang behind him. Edward hiked up his shoulders and lowered his head like it could make him disappear.   
“Eddie,” Chris called.   
“Just leave me alone. You almost killed me, isn’t that enough?” he asked, still facing the locker.   
A hand slapped his back and he inhaled sharply at the pain. “Don’t be so dramatic, Eddie. We were just having a little fun.”  
“Fun!” Ed shouted as he spun around to see Chris, Sam, and Jamie bearing down on him. The shit-eating grin on Chris’s face made him sick. “If that’s your idea of fun, you’re a fucking psychopath.”  
Chris’s expression darkened. It was disturbing the way he could shift so quickly from amused to vengeful. His eyes grew cold and soulless, like a snake ready to strike. Edward felt small and endangered with the three seniors in front of him and his back to the wall with nowhere to go.   
“Christopher, Jamie, Samuel,” the group took a collective step back. A tall, blonde man with a square chin and kind eyes had materialized.  
“Hey, Mr. Havoc,” the gang chorused. Ed recognized the man, he taught some advanced classes for the upperclassmen. He knew that people considered him one of the “cool” teachers and all the girls thought he was remarkably handsome.   
“What’re your next classes?” he asked conversationally.  
“I’ve got physics,” Jamie answered.  
“Spanish,” said Sam.  
“Me too,” Chris replied.  
“Oh - muy bien. Better get to it,” Mr. Havoc smiled.  
The group bid him goodbye and left. Ed looked suspiciously up at Mr. Havoc.   
“You all good?” his smile fell a fraction.  
“Fine,” Ed was frustrated by his blase attitude towards the seniors. He clearly had come to Ed’s rescue, but had no interest in punishing the boys. Ed didn’t need anyone to save him, he managed on his own, but having a teacher witness the situation and not care was humiliating.   
Mr. Havoc considered him. “What’s your name?”  
“Ed. I have to go now,” he said and hurried away, not stopping to look back or thank the man.   
He paid little attention to the things happening around him for the rest of the day. When lunch came, he hurried to hide behind the building before Al could locate him and give him that wounded puppy look when he refused to sit together. He breathed a sigh of relief for the privacy. It was a miracle Chris and his friends hadn’t found his secret spot, otherwise he’d never have a moment of peace.   
Ed edged towards the corner of the building and peered around to see the lunch tables and quad. He squinted to survey the area for his brother and spotted him at one of the chipped, blue, metal tables. He was smiling and laughing, a group of other freshmen around him, all looking incredibly cheery. Ed tried to pretend he wasn’t jealous, that he didn’t wish he could just have that normal high school experience or have so much as one classmate like him. He tried to tell himself that this was fine and he never liked anyone anyways. But none of it was true.  
Next period was Professor Ross with that pretty blonde girl who sat in front of him. He wouldn’t mind the distraction today. Anything to get his mind off of the incessant pain.  
Some of her long hair fell on his desk. When Ross ordered the class to pass their papers to the front, the girl looked back at him curiously. He refused to meet her gaze and instead fiddled with his pencil.   
Ross droned on about functions and other things he didn’t listen to. It wasn’t that he didn’t like math - actually, math and science were some of his favorite subjects as a kid. But everything seemed dull in school now and he never had the focus for it.   
Ross walked through the rows and handed each student papers. Edward grabbed his and studied it. He already knew these functions anyways and he was glad not to be behind already, even if he wanted to pretend it didn’t matter to him.   
“Go ahead and work amongst yourselves. If you have any questions, come to me,” Ross announced when she finished.  
The class hummed with students excited to chat with their friends. Ed started working on his paper when the girl turned to see him. “Do you want to work with me?” she asked.  
Ed stared at her in surprise. “Um,” he managed.   
She looked embarrassed. “Sorry. Nevermind,” she muttered.  
“No- wait. I just- Sure.”  
She smiled, relief flooding her features. “Okay. What’s your name?”  
“Ed. You?”  
“Winry.”  
“Winry,” he repeated, “that’s a weird name,” he cringed at his own words immediately and looked back down to his desk to hide the shame.   
Winry laughed, warm and full. He looked back up, his mouth fallen open. “It means strong-willed. What does Ed mean?”  
“Dunno,” he shrugged, “My parents weren’t creative?”  
She giggled. “Do you need help with the math?” she asked, changing the subject and turning her attention to the paper on Ed’s desk.   
He shook his head. “Do you?”  
“No, I love math.”  
“You love math?” he asked with amusement in his voice.  
“Yes! It just makes sense. There’s no room for question in math. I-”  
“Winry, come hang out with us!” a girl interrupted. She sat in the next row to Ed’s left. She gave an exaggerated pout to underscore the demand.  
“Oh- okay,” Winry seemed discombobulated by the interruption. She looked guiltily at Ed, but he just gave a half smile to indicate it was fine and started back on the paper. It didn’t make sense that she would talk to him anyways, and now that she was talking to her friends, Ed realized she had only been paying attention to him out of pity. Those huge purple spots on his face and red cuts peppering his skin made him look like a victim that needed help. He stewed in the realization. He should have never engaged - he knew better than to get involved with the other kids at school. It always ended badly. The last time he made a friend, he found out they had been making fun of him the whole time. He wasn’t about to let Winry do the same, especially when he would just end up looking desperate and pathetic when she told her girlfriends about what a loser he was. He resolved to ignore her from here on out.  
Ed strode out when the bell rang before Winry could say another word to him. 

Ed bitterly thought of how unfair it was that he was not safe at home or at school as the last bell rang and he had to decide between taking his chances walking home now and running into Chris, or walking home after some time passed and suffering Mark’s wrath. He decided to go with the first.   
He was thinking about Al as he walked out, and how he missed his little brother, when he nearly bumped into Winry.   
“Ed!”  
“Oh,” he said before he registered who it was. When he saw her soft, kind face, his heart fell and an acid taste filled his mouth.   
“Do you want to walk home with me?”  
He balled his hands into fists at his sides. It stung how much he wanted to say ‘yes’. “No,” he replied coldly and moved past her.   
“Ed?” she called after him. He strode forward, exiting the school gates and jogged down the sidewalk.   
Ed became lost in thought as he traveled home. He thought of everything that had happened in the past three days since school started. The summer wasn’t easy, trapped everyday in the house with Mark, but at least it had only been one perpetrator of violence. There wasn’t school to worry about and he had less ways to piss off Mark, although that didn’t really stop him. Plus Al was usually around to prevent the situation from spinning out of control. He spent less time with his friends during the breaks since they had no way to communicate but in person.   
Incredibly, he spent his whole walk drowning in his thoughts without running into Chris. He didn’t even realize until he was in front of the door to his house. He took the same calming breath he took every time he twisted the doorknob and entered.   
He didn’t immediately see Mark, but as he walked by the living room, he was there sitting on the couch with a beer in hand. Ed inhaled sharply and hiked up his shoulders, his entire body going tense. He tried to walk by, but nothing was ever that easy.  
“Edward! Get over here.”  
Ed closed his eyes and steeled himself. He walked slowly to the living room and met his step-father’s eyes. “Yes?”   
Mark glared. “Where the hell’s your backpack?”  
‘I- I left it at school,” it was a shitty lie considering tomorrow he’d come home again without it and Mark would know.  
“You have no respect for things. I paid for that, do you even care?”  
“I just left it at school, it’s not a big deal.”  
Mark stood up and set the beer on the coffee table. “Don’t tell me what’s ‘not a big deal’,” his voice became high and mocking when he repeated the last phrase.   
Ed sighed with annoyance, “I’ll bring it home tomorrow.”   
“What’s that?” Mark demanded, seeing the paper in Ed’s hand.  
Ed tensed. “I need you to sign this. I was late yesterday.”  
Mark’s eyes filled with flames of hatred. He marched forward, stopping inches in front of Edward and snatched the paper from his hand. He read it and returned his glare to Edward. “You were late on the second day of school. How did you get to be such a failure? You’re disgusting.”   
“You’re overreacting,” Ed knew it was a stupid thing to say, but it was too late to take it back, so he just stared with an expression that dared Mark to argue.  
“You little brat,” he spat and grabbed Ed by his hair. Ed shouted, but it didn’t stop Mark. He yanked his head to the side so that a sharp pain shot through his neck. “I’ll teach you to talk to me that way,” he pulled him to the couch and threw him face down onto it. Ed struggled to get up, but Mark pushed his face into the cushions until he could barely breathe and it was all he could do to gasp for a tiny bit of oxygen. He heard the clink of the belt buckle as Mark removed his belt.  
Mark jerked down Ed’s jeans and then his boxers, leaving him humiliatingly exposed. Ed kicked and threw his arms out in all directions, but it didn’t stop Mark. A slap rang through the room as the first spank struck him.   
Ed cried out, but the couch muffled the sound. Al wasn’t around to stop things from getting out of hand and keep Mark from totally losing his mind in case Al heard the attack.  
“Piece of shit,” Mark said. Another crack sounded in the room as the belt connected with his skin. “Worthless, failure, ungrateful,” Mark cursed as he beat Ed. The words were drowned out by his flailing, howls, and the slap of the belt.   
Mark pushed his face farther into the couch until Ed couldn’t breath at all. The energy drained from him as he suffocated and he stilled under the touch. Feeling this, Mark picked up Ed’s head, still gripping his hair. Ed gasped out thirstily for the life-saving air.   
The next hit flourished even more pain. Instead of the flat leather, Mark had aimed the buckle. “Stop!” Ed screamed. There was no reason to yell, no one could hear. Their house sat on a hill in a field far past the sidewalk and cobblestone roads and any other habitations. He was totally alone, completely at Mark’s mercy, of which he had none. The hits came one after another. One, two, three, four, five, six… He lost count.  
He was on the verge of passing out when it suddenly stopped. Mark released his tight hold on Ed’s hair and he flopped back down onto the sofa. Ed heard the footsteps of Mark heading back to the kitchen, assumedly retrieving another beer and having lost interest in Ed.   
Ed lay still, not so much as pulling up his pants. He didn’t think he could move without breaking. The pain pulsated so that it was all he could feel. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, trying to concentrate on the way his lungs filled and emptied with each breath. If he could focus on anything else, maybe it could lessen the pain.   
He laid for about thirty minutes before Mark returned. “Get the fuck out of here,” Mark commanded. Gently, Ed rose, adjusting his pants, and threw his legs over the side of the couch. He balanced by holding onto the sofa and then crawled along the wall. Mark sat back down without looking at Ed’s pathetic getaway.  
Ed trekked up the stairs, into the bathroom, and turned on the faucet to the bath. He hadn’t bathed since Sunday and there was still blood crusted on his body, as well as the fresh wounds where the buckle had broken his skin. As it filled, he rested his hands on the bathroom counter and met his eyes in the mirror. The black-eyes had barely improved, his busted lip was still puffy and now his face was bright red. Tears stung at his eyes. He wiped them away. He hated how his eyes involuntarily watered from pain. Sometimes Mark would accuse him of crying and he staunchly argued that Mark wasn’t important enough to make him cry. God knew he should keep his mouth shut, but Ed was too proud to let someone walk all over him without so much as a protest.   
When the bath filled, he turned the faucet off again and delicately climbed in. The water stung his body so that he lowered himself millimeters at a time. When he finally submerged, he let out a deep sigh. He looked down at his body and saw the great purple and blue bruises. Other spots were yellow like there was pus just beneath the surface. With a washcloth, he rubbed the blood that stuck to him until it flaked off. Each movement was tiny and deliberate, but still caused him to gasp out at the pain.   
He laid back and closed his eyes, allowing himself to relax. He thought about how the water felt against his skin and how the air was crisp on his face. He stayed there until the water grew cold and then long after that. The small window in the bathroom grew dark announcing the arrival of evening when he finally climbed out. He hobbled back to his room and dressed, then laid on his bed with his eyes wide open for hours. He heard the front door open and close, signaling Al’s arrival. He heard Al’s sweet voice as he greeted their step-dad and the sound of his feet as he pounded upstairs and approached his bedroom.   
A small knock and then the door creaked open. “Brother?” he tested.  
Ed said nothing and pretended to be sleeping. Al let out a little sigh and shut the door. He felt bad to ignore his brother, but it was all he could do right now to try to shut out the pain and there was definitely no way he could hold a conversation. It was the early morning hours when Ed finally drifted off to sleep. 

Ed was roused by hands shaking his arm. “Ah!” he shouted and jumped backwards, hitting the wall with his back and hissing out in pain. Al’s golden eyes were looking at him with concern.   
“It’s time for school,” he reminded, “You keep forgetting to set your alarm.”  
Ed rubbed his hand down his face. “Right. Sorry.”  
Al’s face didn’t change from the mask of concern. “You’re really warm.”  
Ed realized it was true, he was hot and his blankets were covered in sweat. He swore silently.  
“Are you sick?”   
Ed shook his head quickly, “No, I just slept with all the covers on ‘cause I’m an idiot. Don’t worry about it.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“Yeah, I’m sure. You worry too much.   
“You left the bath full yesterday,” Al informed.  
“Sorry,” Ed said, unsure why it was worth mentioning.  
“The water was red.”  
Shit. The blood mixed in and tinted the whole thing, giving him away. He said nothing. It was too early to be coming up with excuses. “I’ve gotta get dressed.”  
“Did you get hurt again?” Al said, unphased by Ed wanting him to leave. Ed groaned and stood up, nearly falling down when he put his weight on both feet, and gripped the bed. It did not go unnoticed and Al held out his hands to catch him. Ed waved him away.  
“No, it was from last time. Seriously, I need to get dressed.”  
Al made no move to leave. Ed really didn’t care about dressing in front of his brother if it weren’t for the huge marks all over his body.   
“You can’t go to school like this,” Al said. It was obviously true, any sane person would stay home with a fever and broken body, but Ed knew it wasn’t even an option.  
“Yes, I can and I am,” he grabbed Al by the shoulder and tried to lead him out of the room, but Al resisted. It wasn’t hard, considering Ed’s current condition, and it was pretty obvious that he was weak considering he couldn’t budge Al even an inch.  
“I’m gonna tell Dad,” Al said. He didn’t mean to snitch, Ed knew he was trying to help, but it was a bad idea nonetheless.  
“I already told Mark.”  
Al scoffed. “You can’t even admit you’re sick, but you already told him?”  
Ed groaned. “Fine, okay, I’ll tell him, but he’s going to make me go. Just watch. Now can I please have two minutes? Thanks,” he shoved Al again, but this time Al allowed himself to be led out of the room.   
Once again, the process of dressing began. He took many sharp breaths, but moved quickly, ignoring the pain as best he could. He headed to the bathroom, combed out his hair, and splashed water on his face. He could feel the heat emanating from his skin, but knew it didn’t matter.  
When he exited, Al was leaning against the wall beside the door, casually waiting for him to finish. Ed gave him a dirty look and together they tramped downstairs.  
Ed walked to their step-father’s room. He wasn’t awake this early in the morning, so he would have to rouse him to tell him about his sickness. Of course, Al had no idea how bad of an idea it was, he only wanted to help like always, but Ed felt sick as he cracked the door.   
“Mark?” Mark didn’t stir, “Mark,” he said again. Mark moved in the bed, opened his eyes, and sat up slowly.  
“What?” he barked.  
“I’m sick, should I still go to school?” Ed asked in a bored voice, clearly predicting the answer and only asking to satiate Al.  
“Yes! Get out!”   
Ed shut the door and gave Al an I told you so look. Al looked distinctly unhappy and guilt shot through him. Then anger came next. He had no right to look displeased, to make Ed feel guilty for things that weren’t in his control.  
“Can we go now?” Ed growled, shoulder-checking Al as he passed by him which caused pain to bloom in his own shoulder. As he left the house, he saw the paper from yesterday on the table beside the front door that was used to hold keys and other small objects. He snatched it and thought about how much he hated Dr. Armstrong for making this happen to him.   
The morning was cold and neither brother spoke as they walked to school. He felt the pregnant quiet in the air, but couldn’t bring himself to care. There was too much to worry about right now than to focus on how he hurt Al’s feelings. Of course, he did care, deeply, but he just couldn’t right now. It was all too much. He kept his head down and glared at the sidewalk, feeling Al’s constant glances on him.   
“Will you stop staring at me?” Ed barked. Al obliged silently, which only served to make Ed feel worse.   
After ten minutes, Al finally broke the silence. “I don’t know why Dad is making you go to school.”  
“Why do you call him ‘Dad’? He’s not our dad,” his voice was poisonous.   
Al was quiet for a minute. “He’s all we have.”  
“No,” Ed said firmly, “We only have each other. He’s nobody.”  
“Why do you hate him so much?”  
“Just forget him, Al.”  
They walked the rest of the way in silence. When they reached the gates, they parted ways. Ed stormed off while Al stood, watching him leave.   
He arrived at first period just before the bell and slammed the absence paper down on Dr. Armstrong’s desk, flashing a sarcastic smile. She ignored it. She didn’t seem like the type of woman to care when a student was mad at her, but it only inflamed him more.

“Ed, is everything okay?” Winry asked timidly, twisting in her seat to meet his eyes. His face was blank and emotionless. For the first half of the day, he was full of virtoil and hatred, but for the last half, he had completely lost touch with his emotions. He didn’t care about any of it, couldn’t be bothered to pull out a single emotion just to appease the people around him. He wasn’t even angry at Winry anymore for screwing with his head. He just didn’t want anything to do with her.  
“I’m fine,” he said in a tone that didn’t inspire further conversation. She looked somber and returned her attention to the front of the class where Professor Ross was lecturing. His eyes glazed over as the hour passed and no sentences connected to his brain.   
When the class ended, he prepared to stride out again without giving Winry the chance to talk to him, but was interrupted. “Ed, could you hold on for a minute?”  
Great, he lamented. Another teacher in his business. He did as he was told and stood beside her desk until the classroom cleared out.  
“I found your backpack,” she said, pulling a bag from beneath her desk. It was navy blue with three zippers. It was quite nice unlike his old pack which was worn and ripped from years of use.   
“That’s not mine.”  
She frowned. “It is yours. Take it.”  
He furrowed his eyebrows at the strange protest. “I know what my backpack looks like and that’s not it.”  
“Ed, please take the backpack.”  
His eyes widened with understanding, then narrowed again. “I don’t need your charity.”  
“It’s not charity. There’s no reason to be so proud. You are allowed to accept help.”  
He was shaken by how the words applied to the other parts of his life. He eyed her, wondering if there was a deeper implication. “Whatever,” he grabbed the bag from her and walked to the door. He paused in the doorframe. “Thanks,” he muttered, just loud enough for her to hear.  
Two steps out the door and he was abruptly stopped by a displeased Winry. “Did I do something?”  
He groaned. Why couldn’t she just let it go? Why was she so insistent on torturing him? “Leave me alone.”  
“Not until you tell me what I did wrong.”  
He was surprised by her firmness, but did not waver. “I don’t want to talk to you. Don’t you have anything better to do?”  
“Of course I do,” she sniped back, “I just want to know what your problem is.”  
“You’re my problem. Quit bothering me,” he said and maneuvered around her. He could feel her staring at him as he hurried away.  
“Jerk.”

He found Al waiting for him by the gate. The bright eyes that normally greeted him were full of anxiety. Ed was frustrated by it. He didn’t have the right to look so upset after everything that Ed went through. He was the one who was suffering, not Al.  
He regretted the thought as soon as it went through his mind. It wasn’t Al’s fault - he didn’t even know about any of it and Ed had made that choice for him. He was the older brother and it was his job to protect Al, especially now that they had no real family left.   
“Hey,” Ed greeted weakly.  
“Hey. I was thinking about going over to Ricky’s, but do you want me to walk home with you?” he looked apprehensive.  
“Nah, that’s okay. You should hang out with your friend,” why did Al have to keep leaving him alone with Mark? Of course, it was better this way. No risk of Chris seeing them together. In fact, they’d been talking too long in public already.   
“Did you get a new backpack?” Al asked.  
“I gotta go, see you later,” Al looked surprised by the sudden leave, but Ed didn’t meet his eyes, unwilling to see the confusion on his little brother’s face.   
Ed walked a couple minutes before he stumbled onto his knees and hit the ground. They scraped against the pavement and opened up holes in his jeans. “Damnit,” more ruined clothes he would never get to replace.   
He picked himself up, doing his damnedest to pretend it didn’t happen and hoping that no one else saw. He was sweating even though the fall air didn’t justify it and he felt the back of his shirt had become heavy with sweat.  
Ed coughed. Then he coughed again. He hacked and wheezed until he could hardly breathe. He gasped for air, overcome with coughing. He held onto his chest as it burned. When did he get so sick? How had he not noticed? He felt like he was about to vomit when the coughing finally subsided.   
He managed to get back to his feet and wiped away the tears naturally forming at the corners of his eyes.   
“Hey, Eddie,” a familiar voice cooed.  
Jamie and Sam laughed jeeringly.   
“Shit,” he murmured to himself and began rushing forwards. It was too late. The giant Chris only took moments to catch up and grabbed him by the backpack, halting him.   
“Where do you think you’re going?”   
“Let me go,” Ed growled, but his voice cracked and coughs started to overcome him again. Chris released him.  
“Gross,” he remarked, “What are you, dying?”  
“I’m fi-” Edward couldn’t finish his sentence before doubling over and wheezing.   
He was still facing away from them when one kicked him and he easily fell onto the ground on his hands and knees. He wanted to get up, but it was all he could do to catch his breath. There was no way he could fight back like this. He didn’t know why he had expected for Chris to give him a break after nearly murdering him, but somewhere deep down, he secretly had believed so.   
“Hey!” a girls’ voice shouted.   
“Hm?” Chris said.  
Someone pounded up to them, although Edward couldn’t see. Spit drooled from his lips and continued coughing uncontrollably.   
“Is he okay?” he recognized her voice now.  
“He’s good,” Chris’s voice changed to a silky, suave tone, “But how are you?”  
Winry gave an innocent laugh. “I’m okay,” she moved past them and a hand rested on Ed’s back.  
“Don’t worry about him, why don’t you hang out with us?”  
“I can’t, sorry, but thanks,” she said sweetly.   
The coughs were slowly beginning to subside, but Ed still wasn’t sure that he wasn’t going to throw up. He didn’t have the energy to push Winry away, besides the fact that she was pretty much saving his life right now and had no idea.   
“Maybe next time,” one replied.  
“I’ll see you boys later.”  
The crew took the hint and meandered away.  
Winry sat there, crouched beside Ed, until his airways were clear and he could sit back on his haunches. He looked at her and wiped his sleeve across his mouth. “Don’t trust those guys.”  
She rolled her eyes. “You think I don’t know that.”  
“Then why were you being so nice?”  
“Because I’m not an idiot like you.”  
Ed cracked a smile, but snapped his mouth shut again. “It doesn’t matter if I’m nice to them, they’d still do the same thing.”  
“I know,” she said regretfully, “but it was the only way I could stop them.”  
Ed watched her, too tired to realize he was staring.   
“What are you looking at?”  
Ed shook his head and turned away. He was only now remembering that he was avoiding her. He stood up and moved intentionally away from the hand still resting on his back. “Whatever. Thanks, I guess,” he started to walk away.  
“Hey!” she shouted, “You don’t get to do that. I saved you, you owe me an explanation.”  
“You didn’t save me,” Ed said, his pride wounded. He turned back around to give her a dirty look.  
She rolled her eyes. “Are you going to be a child about this? Tell me what your problem is right now,” Ed remained silent, “If you don’t tell me, I’m just going to think you’re a jerk forever. Is that what you want?” Ed said nothing, “I’m so sick of you,” she pushed him on his chest. He gasped in pain and immediately raised a hand to his chest. She noticed the movement and looked mortified. “Are you okay? What’s going on?”  
He grimaced. “Nothing.”  
“God, I’m so tired of you. Why are you acting like this? You’re being such a child.”  
“I’m being a child? Fine, okay. You know what- I get it, okay? I know you think I’m a moron, but I’m not. I get that you’re screwing with me and I’m not falling for it. I’ve done it all before and I won’t do it again. So you can just mess with someone else, got it?”  
He looked to his right, at the street and the buildings across it. He couldn’t meet her gaze and have it all confirmed that she had had underhanded intentions the whole time.  
What he didn’t expect was the abrupt pain in his arm. Winry punched him.. “What the hell?” he demanded.  
“You think you’re so smart, you’ve got it all figured out. You don’t even know me! We haven’t talked for five whole minutes. What would possibly make you think I’m anything like that?”  
He gawked at Winry, shocked by the reply. He had been prepared for her to mock him and admit that it was true, but not this.   
“It’s just- I mean…”  
Winry glared at him, refusing to let him off the hook.  
“Why else would you talk to me?” he winced. It was a pathetic thing to say, it sounded weak and vulnerable. He prepared for her to laugh at him.  
She deflated, the anger draining from her face. “Seriously?” Ed shrugged. “I thought you were interesting. I wanted to talk to you since last year, but I was too embarrassed.”  
Ed gaped. “You were embarrassed to talk to me?”  
She blushed and looked down. Ed felt his face growing warm. “Yeah,” she admitted  
“I’m sorry, Winry. I shouldn’t have assumed that.”  
“You shouldn’t have,” she said, snapping her head back up, then smiling, “But I forgive you.”  
Ed shifted. “Do you want to walk together, then?”   
Winry grinned and nodded. “You live this way?”  
“Down past the dirt road, on that little hill,” he pointed.  
“Wow, that’s far. You walk to school everyday?”   
Ed nodded. “It wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for Chris.”  
“Maybe if we walk together, he won’t bother you.”   
Ed raised his eyebrows and regarded her. She was offering to walk to school with him everyday?   
“I mean, if you want,” she added.  
“Yeah, of course.”  
The pair made their way down the road, past the shops and homes until they reached Winry’s. “This is me,” she announced. The bottom floor was an automail shop, the top must have been her apartment.  
“See you later.”  
“See ya,” she grinned and waved.  
Ed paused for a minute, watching as she opened the door to the building and disappeared inside, then falling into his thoughts.  
He wasn’t sure what made him dismiss her so quickly, when he became so jaded as to just assume everyone hated him. It was shameful how he had treated her, but now with the way his heart was beating rapidly in his chest and how he didn’t realize that he had been smiling, he felt good. 

Ed woke up Thursday morning to a frantic Al shaking his body. “Brother! Brother!” he cried.  
“Wha…” Ed was groggy and more exhausted than he felt in months. His entire body was slick with cold sweat and his bed was moist from it, with his blankets thrown onto the floor sometime in the middle of the night. There was a sticky substance on his chin and chest. His eyes fluttered open, but the light was assaulting so he shut them again.   
“Please wake up,” Al sounded on the verge of tears so Ed tried once more to squint through the blinding light.  
“‘M awake,” he slurred.  
“We have to get you to a hospital.”  
“Don’t need a hospital. Jus’ lemme sleep…'' he felt his eyelids growing heavy again and let his eyes rest, already forgetting why it was so important to keep them open.   
“I’m going to get Dad.”  
“No… don’t get ‘im…” Ed said, drifting back to unconsciousness.  
When he opened his eyes again, Mark was in the room, looking down at him with his arms crossed over his chest. Ed closed his eyes and turned his head away.  
“Thank you for telling me, Al. I’ll get a doctor to come over right away. You go to school.”  
“Can’t I stay with him?”  
“No, he’ll be here when you get home. There’s nothing you can do right now.”  
“Please,” Al begged.  
“No and that’s final. Go to school before you’re late.”  
For a moment there was no movement, then the reluctant footsteps of Al leaving the room. There was a final pause when he stopped at the door and then opened it and left.  
“Can’t you make anything easy?” Mark asked Ed.  
Ed moaned.   
Mark scoffed at the display of weakness. “I’m not getting you a doctor.”  
If Ed could form so much as two words, he would have said No shit, but he couldn’t, so he ignored the man and allowed himself to fall back asleep.

Ed woke up to shouting outside his bedroom door.  
“You didn’t get him a doctor!”  
“No one was available. He’ll be fine until tomorrow.”  
“How do you know that? He looks like he’s going to die.”  
Ed heard the words clearly, but it was like a different language. None of it made sense or made a connection in his brain. All he could feel was the incredible heat and pain.   
“He’s not going to die.”  
“How could you possibly know that?”  
“I’m not stupid. You think you know better than me, but you’re just a child. I’m the adult, you will listen to me when I tell you what to do.”  
“Please,” his voice was pleading, “I’ll get the doctor myself, right now. You don’t have to do anything.”  
“Do you think I’m not getting a doctor because I’m too lazy?”  
“No- I don’t know why. I can’t stand to see him like this.”  
“I’ll get a doctor in the morning. Now I don’t want to hear another word about it.”  
Someone stormed downstairs. The bedroom door opened and small footsteps made their way to the bed, then sat beside him, shifting the mattress. “Please don’t die,” Al whispered, “I don’t understand why he’s doing this.”   
Ed’s breathing was shallow. Al stood up from the mattress and left, returning a minute later. Ed felt a wet cloth on his chin and neck, wiping away the vomit there. He cleaned his throat and shirt, then the puke on the mattress. He left once more and returned, pressing a fresh, cold cloth on Ed’s forehead. “It’s going to be okay,” he promised to a barely conscious Ed. 

Ed felt hands on his chest, pulling up his shirt and jostling from his position. He grunted with annoyance. He felt like he was dying - why couldn’t he just die in peace?   
“Jesus, Mark,” a man said.  
“I didn’t ask you to come here to judge me. Just fix him.”  
The man sighed. “He’s got an infection for sure. I’ve got some antibiotics. He’s lost a lot of fluids, I’ve got to put him on an IV. I’ll give him something for the pain and for the fever too. He’s going to need to be taking them multiple times a day. Can you do that?”[1]  
“Don’t condescend me. I can give him some pills.”  
“You better hope he doesn’t get sepsis or he’s done for. I wish you had told me about this days ago.”  
“If you tell anyone-”  
“I know, I know. Good God,” he touched Ed’s chest.  
“That wasn’t me. Some kids at school, I guess.”  
“Kids can be bastards,” the doctor remarked.  
“When will he be back to normal?”  
The doctor made a frustrated grunt. “If he doesn’t die, you mean?”  
Mark growled.  
“A week or so,” he sighed.

The next few days passed in a blur. Ed would wake up only a few minutes at a time. Either to Mark carelessly focing pills down his throat or Al delicately caring for him. He would change his clothes, brush his hair, wash him with cloths, and try to feed him soft foods. Once Ed woke to him resting his head on his chest and crying.   
Light was breaking through the windows, when he woke up for the first time with actual awareness. He grunted and turned to look at the clock on his bedside table. The hands let him know it was 3:45.   
“Brother!” Al pounced and wrapped his arms around him as best he could manage from his awkward position.   
“Hey,” Ed said, chuckling.  
“You’re okay! I’m so glad you’re okay.”  
“Calm down, you’re crushing me,” Al released his grip, but continued beaming at his older brother.  
His face turned dark and he looked sorrowful. “I thought you were going to die.”  
“You kiddin’? Takes more than a cold to kill me.”  
“A cold- You had an infection. Do you remember anything?”  
Ed pushed himself into a sitting position and rested against the wall. “Not really,” he ran a hand through his hair, “Just feeling like crap,” it wasn’t a lie. He didn’t remember all the times Al had roused him from his sleep by taking care of him. He was drawing a blank, he wasn’t sure what the last thing he could remember was. He racked his brain. There was school, but what about after that? He remembered Ross giving him a backpack and Al going to his friend’s house. Then he walked home with Winry. Of course, how could he forget that? “What day is it?”  
“Sunday.”  
“I slept for four days?”  
“No, you slept for eleven days.”  
“Damn,” Ed whistled. He noticed the tears in Al’s eyes and reached out a hand, wiping them away with his thumb, “Hey, hey, what’s wrong. I’m the one dying here.”  
“I was so scared,” his voice was small.  
“I’m sorry. Look, I’m alive. It’s not gonna happen again. There’s nothing to be scared about anymore,” it was hard to see Al like this and know he had caused it. Maybe if he had gotten help earlier, this wouldn’t have happened. He was always trying to protect Al from the things that were happening to him, but then this event rocked his whole world. He hadn’t considered how his lack of care for himself could affect his little brother and it was selfish. Al was just a kid, he shouldn’t have to watch his brother toe the line of life and death. “I’m sorry,” he repeated.  
“Dad didn’t want to get you help. I had to make him,” Al told him. It really was a question, not a statement. He had clearly been grappling with it for days.  
“Mark’s just like that. He doesn’t like to ask for help.”  
“But how could he just let you suffer like that?”  
Ed hated having to defend the bastard. “I’m sure he didn’t know how bad it was. Besides, he got me help after all. Probably his pride.”  
“Yeah…” Al sounded unconvinced.  
Ed stretched and yawned. His body didn’t hurt as much and he could be grateful for that. Al looked at his chest.  
“Why didn’t you tell me how hurt you were?”  
So Al had seen his bruises. Hopefully only the ones on his torso. It would be harder to explain the belt imprints. “I didn’t want to upset you. I didn’t think there was anything you could do and you’d just be torturing yourself over it. What would be the point?”  
“The point!” Al nearly shouted, then looked regretful when Ed winced at the sound, “The point is that I want to know. I can help. I could have gotten the doctor sooner or told someone.”  
“And I didn’t want you to tell anyone. Mark wouldn’t have let you get a doctor either. I saw the school nurse.”  
“Yeah, that helped a lot,” Al said sarcastically, “I could’ve at least been someone to talk to. Do you not trust me?”  
“What? Of course I trust you. I don’t want you roped into this, that’s all.”  
“Is that why you don’t want to be seen with me at school?”  
Ed sighed. Al was too smart for his own good. He hoped that he wouldn’t figure out the rest, but it was nice to not have him think Ed was just embarrassed of his little brother. Even if it was easier to protect him before, he couldn’t help feel a little weight lifted from his shoulder. “If they see you with me, they’ll target you too.”  
“Why do you think you have to do everything on your own? Why can’t you accept any help? I don’t care about them!” Al was almost shouting again.  
“I know you don’t,” Ed matched his angry tone, “That’s the problem. You don’t know what’s good for you.”  
“You don’t have to protect me.”  
“Actually I do. I knew you’d hang around me anyways if you found out. I don’t care if you don’t care. I won’t argue with you on this. We won’t be seen together at school, okay?” there was no room for question in his tone.  
Al pouted. “You’re so annoying.”  
“Yeah, yeah.”  
Al shook his head and looked across the room, eyes landing on a pile of books and papers. “I brought your homework home every day.”  
“Thanks,” Ed replied sarcastically, but flashed a smile to show that he was secretly grateful. He didn’t think he would ever do it, but it was just like Al to be so thoughtful.   
“A girl asked about you,” Al gave a mischievous grin, “She was really pretty. She said her name was Winry.”  
“And what’d you tell her?”   
“I told her you were sick. So who is she?”  
“She’s just a girl. She’s nobody,” he said quickly. The rapid response was a clear sign of denial and Al giggled.   
“You like her.”  
“No! I don’t even know her.”  
“She seemed to know you. She was really concerned.”  
“She was?” he didn’t mean to sound so excited.  
Al shoved him in the arm, “I knew it.”  
“Shut up,” Ed rolled his eyes, “I’m starving.”  
“I’ll make some eggs. Just give me a few minutes, I’ll be right back,” he jumped up and rushed to the door, eager to care for his brother. The door was closing behind him when suddenly it reopened and Al’s sweet, golden eyes looked at Ed. “I’m really glad you’re okay.”  
“Me too. Thanks for taking care of me. You’re a good brother,” Al grinned and shut the door.

It was only the third week of school and Ed felt like he was five weeks behind. Al had tried to insist on walking with Ed in the morning, but now that the secret was out, Ed staunchly refused. He had no interest in having the same thing happen to his brother that happened to him. He ordered Al not to talk to him until they got home and that they would leave and return at separate times. Al was not happy to say the least, but Ed got his way in the end. He was not afraid to play the older-brother-knows-best card.  
Some of his teachers asked how he was doing. First period Doctor Armstrong displayed no concern for his absence, but he was glad for it. It was nice to be invisible some days.   
When he passed by Al in the hall, Al shot him a faint smile and Ed shot one back.   
Lunch passed and Ed almost fell asleep, but was jolted by the obnoxious bell. His heart fluttered when he thought about seeing Winry in his next class. She asked about him, Al had said. It probably was out of politeness or curiosity, but it meant that she had thought about him.   
When he strolled in, Professor Ross looked surprised. “Ed, how are you feeling?”  
“I’m alright. I had the flu, but I’m all good now.”  
“I’m glad to hear that. Why don’t you see me after class so we can talk about your homework?”  
If she expected him to finish all that work, she had another thing coming, Ed thought to himself. He sauntered to his desk and plopped down, waiting patiently as the class filled for Winry to arrive.  
When she entered, she glanced at his desk. Her eyes lit up when she saw him there and he couldn’t help but smile. She trotted up to him and threw her things down. “Ed, I was so worried,” she stopped and looked like she wasn’t sure if she should have said that, “What happened? Your brother said you were sick.”  
“How did you know he was my brother?”  
“You two look just alike. What happened?” she repeated the question.  
He shrugged. “Had the flu, but it’s alright now. Sorry for worrying you.”  
The bell rang, signaling the beginning of class. Ed hoped for Ross to order them to work amongst themselves, but she didn’t let up even for a minute to let Ed speak to Winry. The hour passed quickly. Winry gave him a small wave, “Meet me at the gates after school,” he nodded his agreement.   
He wandered up to Ross’s desk, ready to hear about how far behind he was and how much work he had to catch up on. Ross viewed him with concern.  
“We missed you in class,” he didn’t see how that was possible since no one knew him and he had gone to class for exactly three days before disappearing for a week and a half.   
“Sorry.”  
“That’s quite alright. Glad to see you are feeling better. Your brother stopped by to pick up your assignments. I know you must be quite behind in all of your classes. Don’t worry too much about catching up right away, just focus on the lessons. Did you have trouble keeping up today?”  
“No,” he answered truthfully. The times when he wasn’t staring at the back of Winry’s head, he had already known what Ross was teaching.  
“That’s good. If you have any trouble, I am here before and after school.”  
“Thanks, Professor Ross,” he tried to portray in his tone how much he meant it. The other teachers had paid little attention to him other than to order him to complete his assignments. He didn’t mind not receiving special attention, he was used to it and could appreciate the privacy it afforded him, but he had never had a teacher like Ross before. She had asked about his health when she saw his mangled face, given him a backpack when she saw his parents weren’t going to, and made sure not to add to the stress he was already experiencing at school.   
The corners of her eyes crinkled with warmth. “Of course. You have a good day, Ed. I’ll see you tomorrow.”  
He spent the rest of the school day thinking about his walk home with Winry, about what he should talk about with her, and how he could seem cool without appearing like he was trying.   
When the last bell signaled the end of the school day and after he had gathered his things from his locker, he went to the gate. Winry was there with her sun-streaked hair and glittering blue eyes waiting for him.   
“Hi!” she waved.  
“Hey. Ready?”  
“Yup. Last period was exhausting,” she ran her fingers through her hair as they walked.  
“What did you have?”  
“Chem. I like it, but sometimes it’s really tough.”  
“I’m pretty good at science, if you need help.”  
“No offense, Ed, but you haven’t really been keeping up.”  
“Yeah, but I know all that stuff already.”  
“How is that possible?”  
He shrugged. “I like to read about it.”  
She looked amazed. “You like to read science books?”  
“What, you’re the one who likes math,” he teased.  
“Hey I-” she noticed the apprehensive look on Ed’s face and turned to see what he was looking at. Chris stood feet away with his friends on either side and a savage grin on his face. “Oh.”  
“Hey, Gorgeous,” Chris directed at Winry, “Why are you hanging out with this faggot?”  
She glared. “Don’t be rude, he’s my friend.”  
He didn’t have time to bask in the fact that Winry had just declared him her friend because his whole body was charged with anxiety and adrenaline.  
The group laughed at her indignation. “You’re so uptight,” one remarked, “Come hang out with us, we can chill you out.”  
“No thank you,” she said with a tone of disgust.  
“Now who’s being rude?” Chris moved towards her, “Don’t be such a tease, Sweetheart.”  
“Excuse me,” she began, but Ed intervened, stepping between the two.  
“Leave her alone, you creep.”  
“She wants it. Screw off, Eddie, we just want the girl.”  
Ed became hot with rage. “If you touch her, I’ll kill you.”  
Chris towered over him, but Ed was unwavering. “Go, Winry,” Ed ordered.  
Chris took his arm and shoved Ed to the side, stepping forward and putting a hand on Winry’s shoulder. “Come with us.”  
“No!” she shouted, “You’re all pigs.”  
The fake smile plastered on Chris’s face fell, replaced with a scowl. “You shouldn’t have said that.”  
Ed grabbed his arm and pushed it away from Winry. Chris put a hand around Ed’s throat and threw him to the ground. Ed fell and coughed, but was back up on his feet in seconds. Chris had grabbed both of Winry’s wrists while Sam and Jamie stood on either side of her. Ed’s vision went red when he saw him touching her, grabbing her, and he didn’t realize what he was doing next. He squeezed around Chris’s friend and bit him hard on the arm.   
“What the fuck!” he shouted, releasing his grip and throwing Ed backwards so that he tumbled backwards on the pavement.   
“Winry, go now!” Winry took a hesitant step back, “Get the Hell out!” his tone left no room for argument.  
“I’ll get help,” she told him and spun around to run back to the school.   
“You fucking brat,” Chris cursed, “Get her!” he shouted at one of his goons. His arm was bleeding. Ed was standing when Chris took his foot and kicked him in the chest, toppling him back to the ground. Ed squirmed in an attempt to rise, but Chris pressed his foot on his throat. Ed grabbed at his leg, using all of his might to push him off, but from his position, it was all he could do to ease the pressure a sliver. His mouth opened and closed breathlessly.   
He felt his windpipe was about to be crushed when Chris raised his foot. Ed gasped for air, but was unable to move. He looked about wildly for Winry when he heard a scream.   
He tried to shout her name, but nothing came out. Winry’s screams kept coming.  
“Pick him up,” Chris ordered, “Hurry up.”  
“I’m gonna knock you out if you don’t stop screaming, little bitch,” said one of the boys. Ed wanted to kill him. Someone picked up Ed, his vision was darting in and out, his face felt hot like he was about to pass out. He still couldn’t speak.  
Ed tried his best to struggle. Winry shouted and then went abruptly silent.  
“Winry!” he tried to call out. He twisted to see her lying still in Jamie’s arms. The group moved with the pair in their arms and Chris leading the way, turning down a nearby alley and then continuing down until they passed the buildings and reached the woods that backed up the town. He was sure they were taking him into the woods to kill them and hide their bodies. And he was the one to bring Winry into this. It was all his fault she was going to die. He’d give himself up to die right now if it just meant Winry could get away. No, he couldn’t think that way. He wasn’t going to die at the hands of these monsters. Not today.  
When they reached the woods, they walked for a few more minutes until they seemed confident no one would hear their cries for help. Ed continued to struggle, but Sam wrapped a hand around his throat and squeezed each time he moved.  
Ed was hoarse, but his voice was coming back. When Sam released his throat, he tried to shout, “You bastards, get away from her, stop it, leave her alone,” he protested as loudly as he could.  
“Put her there. I’ve got some rope in my bag[2], tie her to that tree.”  
“Don’t touch her!” the trio ignored Ed. Ed was gaining his energy back and kicked and punched from his hold in Sam’s arms. One fist connected with his chin and the boy dropped him onto the forest floor. Ed made a move to jump up but the boy sat on his chest before he could. He grabbed Ed’s wrists and pinned them over his head. It was infuriating that he was stronger than Ed and that it was all he could do to squirm and yell.   
“Wake her up,” Chris ordered.   
There was a slap and a moan. “Winry! Winry!” Ed cried repeatedly until Sam covered his mouth with his hand.   
“Huh…” he could hear Winry coming back to consciousness.  
“Flip him over. Winnie, I want you to watch what’s going to happen to your little boyfriend.”  
“No- Stop. Get off me!” Ed protested as the boy lifted himself enough to twist Ed onto his stomach. Ed writhed madly beneath the touch.  
“Ed! Don’t touch him, stop! Stop! Please let him go.”  
Ed’s face was pressed into the dirt, his hands pinned above him, and his back being crushed by the hefty boy. He fought with all his might, refusing to give up or make this easy even for a second. The kid raised himself so he could reach down and lower Ed’s pants. “Get the fuck off me, you fucking pervert! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill all of you.”  
Sam pulled down Ed’s boxers next, not acknowledging any of his words.   
“Ed!” Winry screamed again, repeating his name over and over. “Ed! Ed!”  
“Winry, don’t watch. Please, look away,” it was the only mercy that could be shown in this situation. The one thing he could ask for - to not have her witness what was about to happen to him. He could hear her sobbing from her bind against the tree trunk.  
The boy ran a finger across his bare skin where the welts still stood from the belt. It burned.  
“Look,” the boy commented, “This wasn’t us. Someone else was playing with him too,” he told his friends, “Did your daddy hurt you?” he mocked  
He heard a gasp from Winry.  
“Shut up!” Ed shouted.  
“No wonder. You’re a naughty kid. Let’s see if we can fix that,” Ed heard the boy’s belt buckle clinking as he wriggled down his pants.  
“Stop!” Winry screamed.  
“Don’t look!” Ed hollered back.  
BANG.  
BANG. BANG.  
A shot rang out, piercing Ed’s ears. The pressure on his back was released as the kid fell to his side. Ed quickly dragged himself forwards, away from the boy, and sat up, pulling up his boxers and pants, embarrassed to have Winry see.  
The boy who had just been straddling him lay on his side, holding his upper arm as blood pooled down it. His mouth was open in shock and he stared blankly in the direction from which the shots had come.   
The guy who had sat in front of Winry was holding his shoulder and staring down at it in awe of the red liquid pouring down. His entire upper arm was bright red with blood.  
Between them, Chris lay on the ground, crumpled over, his arms wrapped around his stomach and weeping. Winry was tied to the tree, mouth agape as she stared in the same direction as the first boy. Ed turned his head to see where the shots had come from.   
Dr. Armstrong stood there, gun still pointed to the group. She lowered her hand, face as impassive as ever, and met Ed’s eyes. His were wide and mouth was open as he stared back at her. She surveyed him and strode forward. The kid beside him scooted backwards in terror.  
She crouched beside Ed and looked at him. “You’re okay,” she told him. She held out a hand and Ed took it. She rose and tugged him to his feet, then moved towards Winry. She withdrew something from her pocket, hunched over, and the ropes around Winry’s body loosened and fell to the ground.   
She then poised, turned to Chris and raised her gun. He looked up from staring at his stomach and plump tears were streaming down his face. “Please don’t, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. We didn’t mean it. It was an accident.”  
Her eyes narrowed and no mercy showed on her face. He openly wept and begged and she allowed him to before another shot sounded through the forest. Ed winced, but when he opened his eyes, Chris was still sitting upright, eyes bulging out of his head and blubbering loudly. She had shot right beside him, so the bullet flew past his head.   
“I won’t be so nice next time,” she said coolly, “Go.”  
Sam and Jamie didn’t wait to be told again. They jumped to their feet and sprinted away. Chris tried to stand and staggered, falling back to the floor. “Pathetic,” she spat on the ground in front of him.   
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” he wept.  
“I said go.”  
Chris managed to stand and lurched away. Dr. Armstrong looked disgusted.   
“Dr. Armstrong?” Ed said softly.  
She looked back to Ed, then to Winry. “This didn’t happen,” she stated.  
Ed nodded, “R-right.”  
With that, she turned and left, not looking back to see how the pair were making out.  
Ed watched for a second before he snapped back into reality and rushed to Winry’s side. He bent down so that he was close to her. “Winry, are you okay? Did they hurt you?”  
Winry threw her arms around him and buried her face in her shoulder. He felt his shoulder grow wet with tears. “It’s okay, it’s okay now,” he murmured, “I’m sorry, this is all my fault.”  
She pulled away enough to speak, “How can you say that? You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m so sorry, Ed. I couldn’t do anything. I felt so helpless”  
“Come on, don’t talk like that. I got you roped into this. I wish I could have protected you.”  
“How can you blame yourself after what just happened?” she sobbed harder and nuzzled again into his shoulder.  
“I’m sorry, Win,” they stood like that for a long time, until the sun began to set and the sky grew orange and purple and pink. “Let’s go home,” he felt her nod and then release her hold.  
“Okay,” she sniffled.  
They traveled back down the alley until they reached the street. They held hands, moving slowly, feeling the comfort of the other’s presence. When they reached Winry’s building she stopped before entering. He raised an eyebrow as if to ask why.  
She stood for a minute, before softly speaking. “Did your dad hurt you?”  
He looked away. “No,” he knew she could see through the lie, “I mean, it doesn’t matter right now.”  
“Why don’t you stay with me?”  
“Stay with you?” he repeated with wonder. It was not an offer he had ever expected. He shook his head. “No, I’ve got to look after Al.”  
“Does Al know?”  
“He can’t know.”  
“Why?”  
“It’s complicated. You should get home. Are you going to be at school tomorrow?”  
“I’m not sure. Are you?”  
“Yeah,” he answered with a tone that implied he was done talking about it. “Bye, Winry,” he pulled her into him and they hugged once more.   
He trudged home. Whatever Mark had waiting for him, it couldn’t be worse than what he had experienced today.  
He rubbed his throat, wondering if there was a shoeprint where the boy had pushed down on his neck. It was a miracle his windpipe hadn’t broken. He thought about Dr. Armstrong and how she had come to the rescue. She had seemed so unconcerned by his state before, but didn’t hesitate to shoot those kids. He wondered why she had a gun at all. He remembered how she looked after pulling the trigger: impassive and unphased. She was a terrifying woman that he had a new appreciation for.  
Twilight had fallen by the time he reached their little house on the hill. He didn’t bother with his steadying breath before opening the door. The lights were all on in the house when he entered - an unusual occurrence since Mark tended to sit in the living room all day and fall asleep when the darkness came without ever getting up to turn on the lights.   
Just as soon as he had closed the door, he was being attacked. Little arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace.  
“Brother,” Al cried.  
Ed almost toppled backwards from the sudden force, but hit the wall with his back instead and grimaced at the pain. “Hey- what’s going on?”  
“I was so scared. Where were you? What happened?” he pulled away to examine Ed’s face and his own morphed into horror, “What happened to your throat?”  
Ed raised a hand to his neck to cover the bruise. “Nothing,” he answered, having forgotten that Al knew everything now. Well actually, he only knew a portion of what was going on. Al looked angry at the reply, so he quickly backtracked before he could receive a scolding, “It’s fine now, it’s not going to happen again.”  
Heavy footsteps indicated another person entering the hallway. “Ed,” Mark’s deep voice called, “Where the Hell have you been?”  
“Nowhere, I just got stuck at school.”  
Mark narrowed his eyes with disgust, but said nothing. Ed knew he was going to wait until Al was gone to enact his punishment. Mark snorted and turned to head back to the kitchen.  
“You should tell him,” Al said.  
“No, I really shouldn’t. And you won’t either, got it?”   
“I don’t understand why you’re so stubborn. What did they do to you?”  
“Nothing I couldn’t handle. I don’t want you asking about it anymore.”  
“You said you would tell me!”  
Ed frowned and moved past him to head up the stairs with Al pouncing close behind. “I told you it was them, isn’t that enough?”  
“No, it’s not. We’ve got to do something.”  
Ed swiveled to look Al in the eyes. “We don’t have to do anything. It’s not going to happen again, I swear.”  
“How do you know that?”  
“I just do, trust me on this.”  
“How can I trust you after all the times you’ve lied to me?” Al squeaked.  
Ed deflated. “I’m sorry for lying to you. I was just trying to protect you. And I can’t tell you why, but I can promise you it won’t happen again.”  
“I should have just come with you. I should have-”  
“No. You shouldn’t have. You couldn’t’ve don’t anything. Now can you listen to me? It’s not going to happen again,” he felt like he was repeating himself for the tenth time, “I’ve gotta piss.”  
He treaded up the stairs and into their shared bathroom. In the mirror, there was a haunting face of a tortured soul. His throat had already turned purple and it looked disturbing. He ran a finger across it. Things had gotten really bad this time. Somehow worse than the time they almost killed him. But he was confident it was over after what Dr. Armstrong had done. Hell, Ed was scared of Dr. Armstrong on their behalf. She was not a lady you wanted to cross with her total lack of remorse over shooting children.  
He ran the bath and waited patiently for it to fill before dipping into it and nearly falling asleep, only roused by Al’s knocking on the door and nervous ‘Are you okay in there?’ It was almost obnoxious how Al couldn’t let anything go, but really it warmed his heart. He never felt more loved than when he was with his brother.   
They spent hours in Ed’s room. Al sat cross-legged on his brother’s bed while they chatted about nothing in particular. Al asked several more times about what had happened, but in the end, Ed won and they moved on to different subjects. When it was late, much later than Al usually stayed up and he couldn’t stop yawning and rubbing away the tears that formed in his eyes each time, Ed ordered him to bed and Al agreed.   
Ed smiled to himself. Today was a real-life nightmare, but somehow Al still managed to make it all less horrible. His face grew dark again when he thought about what had happened to Winry, so he tried to push it away as he laid back on his pillow and drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.   
In the morning, Ed considered whether or not he should walk with Al, and settled on going together. If anything, Al would be safer if the group saw them together, now that a bullet was the consequence of messing with him. Al skipped beside him on the way, ecstatic to be able to be seen with his brother again.   
“Wanna sit together at lunch?” Al asked when they reached the school gates.  
“Huh? Uh, sure,” Ed replied, only half paying attention as he looked for Winry.   
First period started with Dr. Armstrong looking as dispassionate as ever, not even casting a glance in Ed’s direction. Ed waited all class for her to say something to him, just a single word or meaningful look, but nothing came.   
The rest of the day passed slowly, Ed nervously tapping his pencil each class on his desk until another kid gave him a dirty look. Al was ecstatic to have Ed sitting at his table at lunch, but Ed wasn’t paying attention. He couldn’t see Winry anywhere. Maybe she had a different lunch schedule than him, he considered, still hopeful to see her today.  
When the bell rang, he bid Al a hasty goodbye and trotted to math. He was the first one there and stared at the kids pooling in until the bell rang again to signal the beginning of class. There was no Winry to be seen.   
He couldn’t pay attention. All he could think about was how she was doing, if she was handling the things that had happened, and did she still not blame him for everything.   
When class ended and the students filed out, he walked to Ross’s desk. “Ed?” she asked.  
“Yeah, I was wondering if I could bring the homework to Winry’s.”  
She raised her eyebrows then smiled and nodded. “That would be incredibly helpful, thank you. Let Miss Rockbell know she was missed in class today.”  
“Sure.”  
Al and Ed met at the gates. He hadn’t seen the trio of bullies at all today, assumedly they had stayed home to recover from their bullet wounds. He wondered if they had told on Dr. Armstrong and police were going to show up to the school at any time and arrest her, or if anyone would have believed it. They did have bullet holes to prove it, but who would believe Dr. Armstrong would do such a thing?  
Al jabbered about school and class, not phased by Ed’s lack of participation in the conversation. Ed liked it when Al filled the silence with cheerful chitchat. It was comforting and familiar, like when they were little kids and he would blabber about the things that excited him and Ed would gladly listen.  
“I was thinking about going over to Dan’s tomorrow.”  
“Oh?” Ed replied.  
“Do you want to come?”   
Of course Al thought the reason he didn’t go with him to his friend’s was because of the bullies, and that he would be able to accompany his little brother now. “I don’t think so,” seeing the disappointed expression on Al’s face, he added, “but thanks.”  
Al nodded. They reached Winry’s building and Ed stopped. “Since Winry was gone, I brought her the notes,” Al gave him a knowing smile and Ed rolled his eyes in return. He knocked on the door and the pair waited patiently. The door opened to reveal a tiny, old woman with her hair pulled back and thick, round glasses.   
“Hello?”  
“Hi, um,” Ed rubbed the back of his neck, “Does Winry stay here?”  
“Yes, she does. You must be Ed.”  
Ed’s face turned bright pink with the realization that Winry had told her grandmother about him. “Yeah, I, uh, brought her some notes. And the homework. If you don’t mind giving that to her. And if you could tell her Professor Ross said we missed her in class,” the old woman accepted the papers.  
“Why don’t you tell her yourself?”  
“Oh, I can’t.”  
“Come on, Ed,” Al butted in, “Why don’t we go talk to her?”  
Ed sighed, truly wishing that he could. “I really can’t. Mark doesn’t like when I’m late.”  
Al looked dismayed.

“Winry, it’s not a big deal.”  
“It is,” she protested.  
Ed ran a hand through his hair. “It’s not that bad. It happens to a lot of people,” he hated that he was defending Mark beating him, but there weren’t many other options.  
“That doesn’t make it okay. Please stay with us. Granny doesn’t mind.”  
He looked at her curiously. Had she already asked? “That’s really nice of you to offer, but it’s honestly alright. I’d just wind up right back at home and it would make everything worse,” she looked miserable, “For Al,” he added quickly, worried that she had noticed the implication that the beatings would exacerbate, “He doesn’t know and it’s better that way.”  
“He would want to know!”  
“He thinks that, but he deserves to have a normal childhood with a dad and a home and whatever.”  
“What about you? You don’t deserve that?”  
Ed waved away the notion. “It’s kind of too late for that, don’t you think.”  
She looked hurt.  
“Sorry… I appreciate the offer, I wish things weren’t this way, but they are and I have to accept that. It’s just a few more years anyways.”  
“You say that like it’s nothing.”  
Ed didn’t reply. He knew it wasn’t nothing despite how he tried to play it off. A couple years felt like a decade living under Mark. These three weeks had been some of the longest of his life. But he could do it if it meant that Al got to have a normal childhood. He knew that they couldn't just up and leave with no repercussions. Someone would come and get them, and the punishment then would be more severe than the time he had told the teacher. They arrived at Winry’s house and exchanged goodbyes.  
The walk felt long after Winry was gone. The times he spent in her presence always passed by too quickly. He could delve into the fantasy of living with her, waking up and eating breakfast with her, Granny, and Ed like a family, walking to school altogether, even kissing her goodnight. But that was all it was - a fantasy. He knew he shouldn’t even be allowing himself to daydream about the idea, but it was a small reprieve he couldn’t help but permit himself.   
He reached the house and walked in, still lost in thought and didn’t realize that Mark was standing right in front of him.  
“Woah,” Ed said.  
Mark glowered. “It’s time to receive your punishment for being late yesterday.”  
“Are you serious? Can’t you let anything go?”  
Mark shoved him back against the closed door. “Don’t talk to me that way, I’m your father.”  
“You’re not my fucking father. You’re just some guy on a power trip who gets off on hurting kids,” Ed felt invigorated from the day. Winry made him feel strong and after what he had gone through in the woods, he didn’t see what Mark could do that could be worse.  
Mark pushed on his chin so the back of his head hit the door. “Your father couldn’t stand to be around you, so I’m your father now. It’s time you accept it.”  
“I’ll never accept it,” Ed hocked a glob of spit on Mark’s face.   
Mark pulled back his arm. Ed closed his eyes and turned his head, prepared for the incoming strike. The punch landed square on his cheek.   
Ed ducked around Mark and tried to run upstairs, but Mark grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. “You’re not going anywhere,” he yanked him back.  
“Get off me, you bastard. I fucking hate you,” he slammed a fist into Mark’s chest. He made no reaction that it had hurt, his face only grew darker and more full of hatred. He slammed Ed onto the ground.  
“I’m getting really sick of this. I’m going to teach you a lesson once and for all.”  
“Like Hell!” Ed shouted as he climbed back to his feet. Mark struck him hard in the gut and he doubled over, nausea bubbling up in his throat until he vomited at Mark’s feet.  
“Disgusting,” Mark noted and grabbed Ed by the hair, pulling him up. Ed coughed and struggled, hands flailing and trying to aim a kick at Mark’s crotch. With his free hand, Mark hit him hard on the nose. Blood flowed freely down so that he could taste the metallic fluid in his mouth. He sputtered, spitting the blood out of his mouth as it mixed with the vomit. “I’m done with you,” he pulled him by his hair to the kitchen. Ed struggled, trying desperately to rip away the hand holding his head, but failing.  
It wasn’t until he heard the rattle of a drawer opening that his heart fell. He watched as Mark withdrew a long, silver knife. The adrenaline sparking through him grew and he ripped himself away, ignoring the pain that flourished from his skull where his hair ripped out. “Fuck!” Mark shouted.   
Ed knew he wouldn’t make it out the front door without Mark catching up to him so he flew into the nearest room, Mark’s bedroom. He shut the door behind him and locked it. It was the only door in the house with a lock. He looked around the room. The windows were sealed shut. On the far side, there sat Mark’s desk with a radio on top of it. It was his one chance. He rushed over to it and began playing with the dials. Static sounded and he pulled the microphone to his lips, turning the tabs until he heard a voice.  
“Help! Can anyone hear me?”  
Static, followed by, “Who is this? How are you on this channel?”  
Behind him a loud noise sounded. Mark was beating against the door with the knife. It ripped through the wood, tearing a giant hole. “YOU PIECE OF SHIT. YOU’RE GOING TO DIE.”  
“Please help!” Ed shouted into the radio, “This is Edward Elric,” another bang against the door ripped the hole wider. He watched in terror as he gripped the radio with white knuckles.  
“Where are you?” the voice on the other end demanded.  
The house didn’t have a real address. Their father had built it in one of the empty fields before the city had grown as large as it did. “Address.. There is no address. After the shopping district, past where the cobble road ends. East of the high school, down the dirt road, on the hill. Please, hurry.”  
“What’s going on-”  
The door splintered apart entirely and Mark stepped into the room. He had the cold eyes of a murderer. He walked slowly over to Ed, who watched in horror. He tried to dart around the man, but Mark stepped in front of him and grabbed him by his already sensitive throat. He slammed him onto the floor and sat over him, holding the knife in front of his face. “I’m sick of this, Edward. I’m finally done with it.”  
“Stop!” he tried to scream. Mark moved his hand from his throat to pressing down on his chest to keep him from standing. He pointed the knife to Ed’s throat.   
“It’s too late,” he raised the knife to stab. Ed closed his eyes and felt real tears fall down his face for the first time in years. He was completely trapped.   
“STOP!” a high-pitched voice screamed. Ed opened his eyes and saw Al holding back Mark’s hand from plunging the knife. Mark had turned his head to look at him with repulsion. “What are you doing?” Al shrieked.   
“Get out of here!” Mark roared, “This doesn’t involve you.”  
“Alphonse,” Ed gasped. Mark had risen enough that his entire weight was no longer resting on Ed. He took the opportunity to squirrel out of Mark’s grasp, scooting back until he hit the wall. They both stood up, Mark reached to grab him again, but Ed evaded it and shuffled to the side. Mark shot a glare at Al and it sparked fear through Ed, “Al, run away!”  
Mark turned his body, held his knife up, and stepped towards Al.  
“Alphonse! Run, now!” Al took a step backwards while Mark moved forwards, closing the gap between them. Ed grabbed the arm holding the knife before Mark could step forwards. “I’ll kill you both,” Mark screeched.  
“Get away. Go, get help,” Ed shouted. He knew there wasn’t time to get help, by the time Al came back he would be long dead, but there was no way he was going to let his little brother die too.   
“Don’t you dare leave, Al,” Mark twisted and tried to thrust Ed away, but he clung on fiercely. He swung his arm and forced Ed to fall back. When he turned back to face Al, he was gone.  
Ed could breathe a sigh of relief. Al had left, he was safe. He was going to live.   
“Motherfucker,” Mark stepped towards Ed, trapping him against the wall. Ed tried to move to the side when he was pinned against the wall by an agonizing, unbearable pain. He cried out and looked down at the spot it had come from.  
Mark had shoved the knife through his left arm until it stuck into the wall on the other side, trapping him there. He gaped at the knife, only its handle visible as the entire blade had been shoved through the appendage. Mark laughed at his look of panic. He grabbed the handle and ripped it back out. Edward shouted in pain. Mark pressed the tip against his chest, aimed at his heart, he could feel it begin to dig into his skin, but Mark paused to stare into Ed’s eyes. He grinned like a cheshire cat. It was over now, Ed knew. But he had saved Al, he had protected his little brother, and that was all that mattered. At least he could die knowing that. Ed closed his eyes.  
“Halt! Put the knife down!” Ed’s eyes flashed open. A man’s deep voice echoed through the room. He couldn’t see around Mark, but he watched his smile falter. Mark stood stock still.   
“Step away from the boy,” a woman commanded. Mark didn’t move. Frustration and conflict rushed through his face. The room was heavy with the silence.   
Then, his lips turned up in a smile and Ed realized that he was still going to die. “No!” Ed shouted.  
BANG.  
A single shot rang through the room so loudly Ed thought his ears could bleed. Mark toppled to the floor in front of him, the knife clanging against the ground. Ed’s mouth fell open as he watched. It took him a minute to see what had happened. Mark laid crumpled on the floor, his face blank and body unmoving. Blood pooled from his head. Ed saw the bullet hole where it had wormed through his temple. “Wha…”  
He looked back up to see the perpetrators. There stood a man with short black hair and a humorless face beside a woman with blonde hair pulled into a bun and a furious expression. They had both lowered their guns and were looking at Ed. The woman was the first to step forward.   
“Edward?” she asked.   
Ed instinctively tried to step backwards, but was already pressed against the wall. She noticed and stopped advancing. Her eyes fell to the wound on his arm and she gasped. He grasped at the stab wound and tightened his hand around it, trying to stop the bleeding. The woman rushed forward. She reached for his sleeve and ripped it off, then took the fabric and wrapped it tightly above the wound. He stared in awe as her hands worked. When she finished, he realized how tired he felt. His face was warm and he felt faint. He slid down the wall to the ground so that his feet were pressed against Mark’s body with his knees pulled to his chest.   
“We’ve got to get him to a hospital. Start the car, hurry,” she ordered, “Is there anyone else in the house?” she directed the question at Ed.  
He shook his head. “Al- my little brother, he went to go get help. I don’t know where he is. We can’t leave without him.”  
“You need a hospital. Someone will wait for him to come back.”  
“No, I’m not going anywhere without Al,” he argued.  
“Bring him,” the deep-voiced man said.  
She viewed Ed, considering the order. He glared up at her with determination. “He’s not going to come without his brother. Radio in, see if anyone has seen him.”  
Ed breathed a sigh of relief.   
“Come on,” the woman said to Ed, “We can at least wait outside,” Ed considered this. He didn’t want to be beside Mark’s dead body anymore, didn’t want to be in this house of nightmares, and didn’t want to make his brother walk in and see what had happened.  
“Okay,” he acquiesced and stood slowly. The woman reached a steadying hand, but he swatted it away. He didn’t want the pity or the help. He stumbled to the door. The man watched momentarily then stepped aside to allow him by. The woman walked close behind him, he could feel her worried gaze on his back. When he reached the front door, he used his good arm to reach out and turn the knob. The house had been dim compared to the late afternoon light and he squinted. There was a black car parked nearby. He looked at the woman for his cue. She nodded and walked towards the car to indicate he follow, then opened the back door for him to sit down. He obliged, but kept his legs out of the side of the car so she couldn’t shut it without his permission. She noticed his glaring and looked away, down the hill.   
“I’m Lieutenant Riza. That’s Colonel Mustang,” she told Ed. He said nothing.  
Ed was exhausted and all he wanted to do was collapse on the seat and sleep for an eternity, but he wouldn’t let himself rest until he saw Al.   
“He’s putting an APB out for your brother right now. We’ll find him in no time.”  
She looked back down the hill and straightened. “Is that him?”   
Ed almost fell out of the car to see. It was Al, he had a police officer beside him, running with his hand pressed against the gun at his side and the other holding the hat on his head to keep it from flying away. Al trotted feet behind him. “That’s him,” Ed flooded with relief.  
“Ed!” he could barely hear Al’s voice from downwind. Ed waved with his uninjured arm to signal to his brother that he was alive. Al sprinted, wasting no time in closing the distance between them, and was about to throw himself on top of Ed when his eyes widened at the blood that soaked his entire left side. “No,” he looked distraught.  
“It’s alright,” Ed said hoarsely.  
“Get in the car, we need to get your brother to a hospital,” the man, Mustang, had reappeared while Ed had been watching Al run up. Ed nodded to Al to indicate it was okay.   
“What the hell’s going on?” the officer gaped.   
“You’re dismissed,” Mustang said coldly as he climbed in the front seat. Ed scooted over and allowed Al to sit beside him.  
“Thanks,” Al said with embarrassment to the shocked officer. Riza shut the back door and got into the front passenger seat.   
The car started with a rumble. Ed had never been in a car before. The engine sounded like a deep growl and the entire thing vibrated. He would have looked out the window, but he couldn’t keep his eyes open. They grew heavy and drooped.  
“Brother! Brother!” Al shook him. He groaned, but didn’t open his eyes. He was fading quickly. “Please stay with me.”  
“Hmm,” Ed grumbled, then slipped into unconsciousness. 

The next time Ed woke was to white ceilings. “Hnng,” he grumbled at the bright lights. He closed his eyes again and opened them slowly to allow them to adjust.  
He was laying on a bed in what appeared to be a hospital room. He saw an IV standing beside him. There was a weight on the bed to his side. He glanced over to see Al sitting in a chair pulled close beside the bed with his face resting on the mattress, completely passed out. “Hey,” Ed whispered, “Hey.”  
Al stirred, slowly opening his eyes and blinking. Ed watched as the recognition settled in them and they grew wide and energetic. He picked up his head and reached out for Ed’s hand. “You’re awake!”  
“I’m awake,” Ed smiled weakly. Al squeezed his hand. “How long was I out?”  
“Two days.”  
Ed nodded. “Hardly a record.”  
Al ignored the joke. “How is your arm feeling?”  
Ed looked down at his arm. It was tightly bandaged and his skin was pale, but he couldn’t feel anything. “It’s alright,” he answered honestly. All the memories flooded back in crystal clear quality.   
His eyes flitted back to Al. “I’m sorry you had to see that,” Al looked lost and confused in a way that Ed had never seen before. He knew that he owed him an explanation, but he didn’t know where to start, what to tell, or what to hide.  
Seemingly reading his mind, Al said, “I want you to tell me everything.”  
Ed sighed. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”  
“When did it start?”  
Ed studied the lines of Al’s face and contemplated whether he should reveal the truth. He relaxed his muscles and rolled his head back on his pillow, staring back at the ceiling. “Not long after he moved in, he started ‘punishing’ me for stuff like not doing homework and mouthing off. Mom found out once and tried to get him to stop, but after that he just hid it better. It’s not like I didn’t try to stop it,” he added defensively as if Al was demanding to know why he let it happen, “But he told me he’d do the same thing to mom. There was one time I did tell someone. You might remember it. In third grade, I told Miss Heidecker. Well, all she did was tell him. I’d never seen him so mad before. That was the week I was too ‘sick’ to go to school. He beat me until I was throwing up blood. If it wasn’t for you taking care of me, I would’ve died. And after Mom passed, he told me he’d do the same thing to you if you found out. I wasn’t about to let that happen,” he said with indignation, ready for Al to comment on how he should have told him anyways, “He never did… That never happened before,” he referred to the scene Al had witnessed a few days prior, “You saved me, Al. Thank you.”  
Silent tears streamed down Al’s face. “I’m sorry. I should have known. I should have-”  
“No, there was no way you could have. I didn’t want you to know.”  
“What if I could have helped you?”  
“You did help me. If I didn’t have you, I don’t know what I’d have done.”  
The room grew silent. “What happened the other day, when you came home late?”  
“I really can’t tell you that.”  
“Brother!” the yell startled him and he looked with wide eyes at his little brother, “Stop lying to me, stop hiding things from me.”  
“Alright, fine,” he said, unable to say no to his brother’s begging, “It’s okay now, so don’t worry, okay? I was walking home with Winry. When we walked home before, Chris laid off ‘cause she was there. It was stupid, but I thought it’d be the same way again. He stopped us and started messing with Winry. I really didn’t think he was going to mess with her. If I did, I would’ve never let her come with me,” Ed trailed off, face tortured with regret.  
“Then what happened?” Al encouraged.  
“They grabbed her. I tried to fight back, but they got me too. They took us to the woods behind the district. They were going to kill me and make her watch, then kill her,” he wouldn’t tell his brother about what else was going to happen - he couldn’t, he was too ashamed, “Then the craziest thing happened it almost doesn’t seem real. Dr. Armstrong - do you know her? She’s my first period teacher - she was there and she shot them.”  
Al’s mouth fell open. “What?”   
“I know. She didn’t kill them or anything, but she got two in the arm and one in the stomach,” Al gaped, “I told you it’s not going to happen again. I wouldn’t be surprised if they pissed their pants. You should've seen it. She didn’t even blink, she just helped us up and left. When I saw her in class the next day, she didn’t even look at me. I hope she doesn’t get in trouble,” he added the last sentence parenthetically.   
“Do you think-” Al was interrupted by the door to the hospital room opening.   
A man in a doctor’s coat entered. He was a heavyset man with black hair and the heavily-lined face that came with age. He surveyed the pair before stepping closer to them. “Edward, it’s good to see that you are awake. I’m Dr. Marcoh. How are you feeling?”  
Ed considered his body, trying to notice where the pain was coming from, but it was surprisingly mild. “Pretty good, actually.”  
Dr. Marcoh nodded. “You are receiving pain medication. You lost a lot of blood, but we saved your arm. You had a number of broken ribs, two fractures in your arm, and you were on the verge of infection, but it’s all taken care of now. You were in bad shape, son.”  
Yeah, no kidding, Edward thought bitterly.   
“Do you have any family you can live with?”  
Ed remained sone-faced. “No.”  
“Where is your mother?”  
“Dead.”  
“Hm. We’ll figure something out, boys,” the doctor promised.  
“Sure,” Ed said sarcastically.  
“Thank you,” Al added, his voice communicating sincerity. The doctor nodded and left. “Why do you have to be mean?” Al asked.  
“It doesn’t matter.”  
“Do you remember the cops who came to the house?” Ed nodded. “They stuck around for a while. They seemed really worried. They asked about our dad and said they might know him.”  
“We don’t have a Dad,” Ed growled.  
“I know you’re mad at him, but we need somewhere to live.”  
“I’m not mad at him. I just don’t want anything to do with him, he’s nobody to us. Besides, I know a place we can stay for a little while. We’ll figure out what to do after that, but we don’t need him.”  
“You know a place we can stay?”  
“Yeah…”  
“Would you like to share with me where that is?”  
Ed worked his lip. “Winry said we could stay with her,” Al cracked a smile, “Shut up.”  
“I didn’t say anything.”

An officer drove them from the hospital to Winry’s. When Ed got out, he stretched his body and took a deep inhale, glad to be out of the strange machine.   
“Come on in! We’re just about to eat,” the old woman greeted them, “You can call me Granny. Are you hungry?”  
“Starving,” Ed said.  
“Mhm!” Al agreed. The smell of stew wafted through the house and Ed licked his lips. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a home-cooked meal, but it was definitely before Mom died.  
As they sat down, Winry hurried out of a bedroom. “Hello!” she said with dazzling eyes and a bright smile, “I’m so glad to see you guys,” she helped Granny serve the soup and set the bowls in front of them.   
Chunks of potato, carrots, peas, and meat floated in a glittering gravy sauce. Ed hadn’t eaten anything besides hospital food in days and couldn’t wait to dig in. The brothers inhaled the food in minutes. Winry smiled at them and offered to get another serving for each.   
When evening fell, the brothers were offered a couch and pallet. Ed insisted Al sleep on the couch as he settled on the floor. Granny had promised they would get their clothes tomorrow, but Ed couldn’t fathom walking back into the house at the moment and was glad to not go that day. She had some men’s clothes that she loaned them that were distinctly too large, but very comfortable. Granny offered to buy them new clothes, but they declined, unwilling to spend any of her money.   
“We’ll find a place soon,” Ed promised Winry.  
“We don’t want you to leave. We like having you here.”  
Ed blushed. “I appreciate that, but we can’t keep putting you out like this,” it was true. They were two growing boys who required a lot of care and sustenance. It wasn’t cheap to raise a child, even ones that refused to accept help or gifts. Granny and Winry never implied that they were meant to leave soon, but Ed knew well enough it wasn’t a permanent situation.   
A knock echoed through the house. Winry stood and walked to the front door. Ed followed curiously. Al was still stationed at the kitchen table, working on his homework like the studious kid he was.   
Winry peered through the hole in the door. “Who is it?” Ed asked.  
She didn’t answer, just swung open the door to reveal a familiar face. It was Riza, the female officer who had saved him from Mark that day.   
“Edward?” she looked past Winry at him, “I heard you were staying here.”  
“Okay…”  
She frowned and looked uncomfortable. “When you told me your name, I knew it was familiar, but I wasn’t sure how. It took me a few days before I remembered. There was a man I worked with who would tell me about his sons - Alphonse and Edward.”  
“So what?” he interrupted.  
“Your dad is here, Ed. He wants to talk to you.”  
Ed’s eyes grew gigantic as he stared at her. He turned around and walked back into the house without another word.  
“Ed!” Winry shouted, “I’m so sorry, hold on one second, please,” she said to Riza. He heard her trotting up behind him. “Ed, what are you doing? Your dad wants to talk to you,” she placed a hand on his shoulder.  
Ed pushed her hand away and glowered. “I don’t have a dad,” seeing her confused expression, he explained further, “He left us. I don’t want anything to do with him.”  
She contemplated this. “Maybe he had a reason. Maybe he’s sorry. You should at least talk to him.”  
“No,” he said with finality.  
“Well, I’m going to tell Al so at least he can talk to him.”  
“Don’t! Al’s too forgiving. He doesn’t deserve Al.”  
“Isn’t that Al’s decision?” Ed said nothing, “If you talk to him, I won’t tell Al.”  
Ed gave her a filthy look and they stood like that for a minute. “Fine,” he relented. He stomped back towards the door and glared at Riza. “Where is he?”  
She motioned to the car she had arrived in. One door was open. A man exited. He was tall, with elegant, exquisite features, a clean-cut beard, and long white-gold hair. He stepped towards Ed and stopped a few feet in front of him. Riza moved away to give them privacy.   
“Edward,” his voice was gentle, yet commanding. Ed looked away angrily. “You look so grown up.”  
“Yeah, you were only gone eight years. Must be a shock I aged.”  
His father frowned. “I understand you’re angry. You have every right to be. But I want you to know that there is nothing I regret more in my life than leaving you boys and your mother.”  
“Great, thanks. Do you need anything else?”  
His dad sighed. “I know you don’t think of me as your father. I can’t blame you. But I want to make it up to you. Please come stay with me.”  
Ed scoffed. “Now you want to be our dad? Well, we don’t need you, so you don’t have to feel guilty. You can just go and forget about us again.”  
“I never forgot you,” his tone was deep and funereal, “Not a day passed without thinking of you.”  
“Right,” Ed said in clear disbelief. He turned to storm away  
“Edward-” he tried to protest, but Ed wasn’t listening.  
When he reached the threshold he saw Al, holding the edge of the door and peering out with innocent eyes. “Damnit,” Ed muttered. The whole reason he had talked to his dad was to prevent Al’s interaction with him. Winry had done this on purpose, he griped.  
He stalked past Al and Winry, who was hiding behind him. He knew Al was going to talk to their dad, but he had no way of stopping it. 

Both Winry and Al had tried to get him to talk, but he gave one word replies at best. When night fell, he laid awake on the floor, unable to sleep. He thought about his dad’s face and how angry it made him to even picture it. This man had walked out eight years ago and thought now he could be their savior and they would gladly accept and think of him as their hero and father like he had never been gone.   
“Brother?” Al’s small voice cut through the silence tentatively.  
Ed grunted in reply.  
“I think we should go with him.”  
Ed flipped onto his side so he faced away from Al. “We’re not going with him.”  
“Why not? You said it yourself, we can’t stay here forever.”  
“We can’t,” he agreed.  
“So where else can we go?”   
Ed didn’t have an answer.  
“It’s my decision too, you know. I think we should go with Dad.”  
“He’s not our Dad! He-”  
“Yes, he is,” Al’s voice was firm, “We don’t even know why he left. And now he wants to make it up to us. You don’t have to forgive him, but this is our best option.”  
Ed stewed. He hated that Al was right. There weren’t any other options, but how could he trust this man? How could he know that he wouldn’t hurt Al? Ed could handle it if he turned out to be just like Mark, but to Al, this was his dad. He was supposed to protect them and Al was already placing trust in him.  
“Whatever,” Ed grumbled.

They didn’t have much to pack. Ed was now on his third backpack of the year and an officer had retrieved Al’s from the house as well as a few articles of clothing. Riza had seemed to take a special interest in them and ordered a subordinate to retrieve their things.   
Granny had cooked them one last meal, pork chops, baked potatoes, and steamed vegetables, before they left.   
“Thank you so much for everything,” Al said, hugging the old woman.   
“Oh, don’t mention it,” she said, returning the hug.  
Al turned to Winry. “Thanks for letting us stay with you, Winry,” he hugged her too. She looked briefly surprised then grinned and squeezed him.   
“Of course.”  
Ed swallowed. “Thank you, Granny. I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t let us stay with you.”  
“You’re a good kid, Ed. Take care of your little brother.”  
Ed nodded seriously. He turned to Winry. “Um,” he said, suddenly losing his nerve, “Thanks for… I’m sorry about everything.”  
She wrapped her arms around him and his face grew hot. She dug her nose into his neck and he could smell the sweet fragrance of her shampoo. Granny smiled knowingly and walked back to the kitchen.  
When she drew away, her face was inches away from his. He met her eyes, searching for an indication of what to do next. She leaned in and kissed him on the lips. It was brief, only a peck, but it lit up his whole body with excitement. “I’ll see you at school,” she said and pulled away.  
“Yeah, school,” he repeated dumbly.  
He was glad when he walked to the door that Al wasn’t still there watching, but he frowned when he saw that he was standing beside the car next to their dad, chatting contentedly.   
“Come on,” Ed announced his presence, “Let’s get going.”  
The group all climbed into the vehicle. Ed sat in the back and allowed Al to sit in the passenger seat. The two talked the entire way while Ed stared out the window at the passing buildings.   
“How far is this place anyway?” Ed asked after five minutes of driving. Soon they would be out of the district and no longer within walking distance of the high school.  
“About five more minutes,” he answered.  
“That’s like an hour walk from the school.”  
“I’ll be driving you.”  
“You’re going to drive us?” Ed scoffed, “Every day?”  
“I am.”  
Ed figured he was nurturing a dependence. He was far away from the school and districts so that Ed and Al would need him to go anywhere. He didn’t care, he would walk the hour there and back as long as he got to see Winry every day.  
The car jumped and jerked on the cobblestone road as they turned down another unfamiliar street. The buildings grew further apart, beginning to look more like homes than businesses. Some second story windows had been thrown open and laundry hung from the railings of the porches.   
Their dad parked the car in front of a particularly large, two-story cement building. It was faded white and had a massive, wooden door with windows to either side.   
“This is it,” he announced.   
“Wow! It’s huge,” Al remarked.   
It was true, but Ed wouldn’t admit it. He refused to be impressed.   
Al hopped out of the car and towards the front door. Ed pushed the door open, but paused when he saw his dad looking at him. “I know you don’t think of me as your father and I don’t expect you to call me ‘Dad’,” Ed laughed derisively, “But you can call me Van.”  
Ed got out of the car and slammed the door shut. 

Al adjusted quickly, tenacious and free-spirited as ever. His little brother was enviable at times with the way he could allow himself to trust and be open. It was something entirely foreign to Ed. He spent the next few days suspicious of Van, watching him from the corner of his eyes, and making sure that he and Al were never alone together. When Van tried to reach out to him, Ed would throw it back in his face, never letting him forget that he had left them when they needed him the most.   
Al prodded him, trying to get him to open up and relax. The rides to school consisted of Al and Van trying to include him in conversation and him pouting in the back seat, resting his chin on his hand, and staring out the window. He missed walking with Winry and he blamed Van for it.   
“I’m going over to Dan’s house today. Are you going to be okay alone with Dad?” Al asked him by the lockers in between periods.  
Ed rolled his eyes. “I think I’ll be fine.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“Al, believe it or not, I can be on my own for a few hours.”  
Al frowned. “You’re so angry lately.”  
“I’m not. Go hang out with your friend,” but it was true. Ed had been angrier than usual lately. He spent all his time resenting Van. The only relief he had was the time he spent with Winry. It was a brief distraction considering he only saw her in class. He didn’t allow her to wait with him after school to be picked up. He learned his lesson from Mark that he was not to spend time with anyone outside of school and he didn’t want Winry to suffer any consequences because of him.   
But today, he was even more bitter than usual, having received a failing grade on an assignment and was now going to have to get Van to sign the slip that said he had seen the grade.  
Winry continued to beg him to come over, but he always declined.  
That afternoon, she ran into him after the final bell as he gathered his things from his locker.   
“Hi,” she said.  
“Hey, what’s up?”  
“Al told me he’s going to hang out with his friend. Why don’t you come over to my house?”   
He shook his head. “I told you I can’t.”  
“I know. You said that,” she looked dismayed, “But do you think maybe your da- Van doesn’t care if you go out with people?”  
“I’m not asking him for anything, even if it's permission to go somewhere.”  
“So it’s not even worth it to spend time with me?”  
“It’s not like that, Win.”  
“I know,” she exhaled deeply, “I just miss you.”  
“Well, yeah, I miss you too,” his face felt warm. He shut his locker and they walked to the gates together. When he reached the road, he waved goodbye to her, but froze when he saw Van’s car was already there. It was too late to hide the fact they had been together.  
He gulped and opened the door to the car, still sitting in the back seat despite Al not taking up the passenger side.   
“Hi, Ed,” Van greeted, “Isn’t that your friend you stayed with?”  
“No. I mean, yes. Why does it matter? I’m not hanging out with her anyways.”  
“I just would like to know your friends.”  
“Don’t worry about it. We only see each other in class, it’s not a big deal.”  
Van was quiet for a few minutes and they sat in the heavy silence, only interrupted by the engine and wobbling of the car. “Are you two dating?”  
“It’s none of your business. I’m not doing anything, can’t I just have a school friend?”  
“Of course you can, Ed. I didn’t mean to pry. I think it’s nice you have a girlfriend.”  
“She’s not my-” he paused, realizing what Van had just said. He wasn’t sure if it was true or not and hated to admit that it had given him a small sliver of hope. He tried to stop himself from continuing, but the temptation was too great. “Can I… Hang out with her? Outside of school?”  
“Why couldn’t you?” Van asked amiably.   
“I don’t know,” Ed wasn’t sure. Mark had had his reasons, whether they be hiding the abuse or controlling Ed, but he wasn’t sure what Van’s reasons would be.   
“Your friend is welcome to come over anytime. Or if you prefer, you can visit her. I could drive you, if you’d like.”  
Ed narrowed his eyes, suspicious of the kind offer. He knew there was something sinister beneath it. Maybe it was to find out who she was and stop their friendship, to see where she lived, or to speak with her personally and demand information and that she leave Ed alone. He turned back to the window and settled his head on his hand.   
They arrived home after a few minutes. Ed waited for Van to unlock the door and they entered together. Van began to walk towards his office, where he spent most of his time.   
“Wait,” Ed began. He removed his backpack and fished for the paper marked “F”. “I failed. I need you to sign this.”  
Van looked curious and stepped towards Ed, raising up his right hand and reaching forward. Ed shut his eyes tightly and pulled back his head, preparing himself for the oncoming slap. When it didn’t come, he opened up one eye. Van stood there, his hand inches from the paper he had been trying to reach for, with a look of total shock on his face.  
“Edward?” Van whispered.  
“What are you doing? If you’re going to hit me, can you just get it over with.”   
What Ed had not expected was for a tear to roll down Van’s face. He lowered his hand. “I’m so sorry I left you with him,” he whispered.  
“What?” Ed asked. He had heard Van, but couldn’t understand the relevance of the sentiment.  
“I’m never going to hit you or hurt you in any way,” Ed looked unconvinced, “I love you and your brother. I failed as a father and I will never forgive myself. But no one is going to hurt you again. You’re safe here. And I know you don’t believe that, but I will spend my life making sure one day you do.”  
Ed shifted and looked away with embarrassment.   
“You are so strong to have lived through that. I know what you did for your brother. I know how you protected him. But you don’t have to do that anymore. Someone should be protecting you, you are too young to have seen everything you have. Your mother and I never wanted this for you.  
“I know that if I had been there, none of this would happen. I don’t blame you for hating me.”  
“I don’t hate you,” Ed said softly.  
The corners of Van’s eyes wrinkled and his lips turned up into a smile. His eyes were warm and full of love and feeling like he had never seen Mark look before. “I love you, son,” he reached out a hand and placed it on Ed’s shoulder, but he didn’t shy away this time. Ed leaned in, falling into the hug. His father wrapped his arms around him in a full embrace. He felt safe and protected and loved.   
“I love you too, Dad,” he whispered.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: If you read this far, holy shit, thank you so, so much!  
> [1]  
> Not a doctor. Shhhh.  
> [2]  
> Someone: Why do you have rope in your backpack, Chris?  
> Chris: I-I-I like to bind, I like to be bound!


End file.
